“Come in, work hard and figure out how to help clients make their goals. Everything else falls into place from there. If you do a good job for your clients, your business grows. It’s that simple.” Those are the words of Patrick Dwyer, and that is what he lives by as the Managing Director and International Private Wealth Advisor with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. His firm Dwyer & Associates is a part of Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group and is one of the four largest advisory teams at Merrill Lynch worldwide.
Dwyer is a leading wealth advisor who always knew that helping others with his skills was what he wanted to do. And he was right. He underwent intensive internships in trading, research and the private sector of client-oriented business and created a business that manages the needs of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Dwyer has achieved success at a trade that requires attention to detail and wide-scope thinking. Forbes magazine recently rated Dwyer as fifth on America’s Top Wealth Advisors list for the third consecutive year. This was just after he was named the top wealth advisor in all of Florida.
Dwyer is a self-made man who originally hails from New Jersey but came to Florida for love. As he says, “I came here for a girl.” That girl became his wife, Marisa. With humble beginnings and passion from the start, Dwyer took his lessons of what is important in life and applied it to business. “I think what sets us [Dwyer & Associates] apart from other folks is that we take a lot of time up front to establish a relationship and do some planning before we get to the investments, so we can try to assess the person or family’s priorities.” Taking the time to understand the financial goals of a client sets Dwyer’s firm apart from the rest. The team at Dwyer & Associates is full of the tenacity required to persevere in the world of wealth management, and best of all, they achieve great strategy and in tow, great results, with unfailing empathy for the needs of their clients.
The compassion exhibited by Dwyer can be seen clearly through his foundation, the Dwyer Family Foundation. As in most aspects of business, things are learned from both parties, and in this case, Dwyer absorbed an interest in philanthropy from his clients. The perspective people have on money changes as people age, and in his foundation, Dwyer pays it forward by helping underprivileged families send their kids to college and giving money to educational institutions to assist in their outreach. He believes that it is “important to share what you have with other people who don’t have as much,” and his work for the community certainly echoes the same principle.
Patrick Dwyer started his work in wealth management at a time when understanding investments was the prime skill needed in private banking, and though times have changed, and the business has progressed into new territory. Dwyer has adapted and mastered the skills required for financial management in today’s world. He encourages aspiring financial planners and wealth managers to enter the business knowing that it’s a long road to add value to your client’s expectations. He says, “Wealth managers are essentially the butlers of financial services, and they’re going to serve people. So, if that’s appealing to you, it’s a good business.” Dwyer exhibits exactly that- empathy, compassion, proven methods of strategy and dedication to understanding each client’s goals individually to reach success with every portfolio.
