Johnathan Rickman | Blue Vault
One thing that most people have in common is a dislike of going to the doctor. It usually takes a major health event for many of us to seek medical attention. Preventive health may be a popular buzzword, but it’s one that few embrace. The same is typically true of financial health and Meira Wealth, a Coral Gables, FL-based advisory firm, is out to change all that.
“We find that most people are only motivated to seek financial advice when something major happens in their life: sudden money, a death in the family, career change, or the sale of a business,” says Jorge Padilla, Meira’s CEO and Senior Client Advisor. “But the biggest rewards come to those who take an integrated wealth planning approach to their finances.”
“Factoring in all the moving parts — the tax impacts, investment options, charitable giving, and retirement — into the planning process is how Meira makes a true difference in our clients’ lives,” Padilla says.
Meira, a Hebrew name that means “bringer of light” or “one who illuminates,” was founded in 1993 by Linda Lubitz Boone as The Lubitz Financial Group. An early financial planning pioneer, Boone instilled foundational values in the firm that still ring true today, some two years after rebranding as Meira Wealth.
At its core, Meira’s values embrace a fiduciary approach, always putting its clients first, while exhibiting positivity and care for its clients, and maintaining an impeccable level of integrity in all that it does.
Finding the Right Client
Meira has always embraced a comprehensive financial planning process and focused on providing wealth management and investment advice to high-net worth families using a fee-for-service business model. The firm manages a total of $290 million in assets and offers a range of services that aim to help clients build wealth and preserve wealth, enjoy a greater peace of mind around their financial life decisions, particularly around life transitions such as career or business changes, retirement, or sudden wealth events.
“We look for clients who are amiable delegators who want a partner in their lives to guide them in navigating life’s defining financial moments,” says Padilla. “By amiable delegators, I mean people who are trusting and comfortable with us giving them advice and executing on the investment recommendations we give them. Most clients stay with us through their life transitions, not just for years but for decades, and this is where our relationships become the most meaningful.”
Bringing the conversation back to Meira’s brand, Padilla says the firm is one that “illuminates or guides people through their difficult financial decisions, and looks for clients who are similarly passionate about making a positive difference in people’s lives.”
Leveraging Technology
Another of Meira’s values is to be resourceful and creative in finding solutions. For Meira, that not only involves using alternative investments to diversify client portfolios, but also leveraging technology to simplify and streamline client relationships. Technology for advisors, or “wealthtech,” can be a gamechanger, especially for smaller firms like Meira.
For instance, the firm uses secure, online portals to provide clients with daily account updates and quarterly reports. Clients can also use them as their own personal financial management tool, allowing clients to connect their credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services to help them track expenses and their net worth all in one digital space.
“We try to provide a simplified approach to communicating advice even though there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that our clients don’t get to see,” Padilla says.
“When you have good people and good processes, you can create great outcomes,” he adds. “Ultimately, it’s about creating synergies between the resources we have and the processes we design , which allows us to create great outcomes for clients. It’s more than just investments but also about the business decisions we make for our clients and ourselves.”
Alts and Blue Vault
Padilla says Meira looks for investment opportunities beyond mainstream, traditional investments and includes alternatives of all kinds, depending on the client’s risk and liquidity profile. He adds that Meira was part of the first wave of firms to use interval funds. “That’s how I found Blue Vault,” he notes. “When I began researching interval funds, the usual tools like Morningstar and YCharts didn’t have available data, so I looked for alternative databases that could provide me with more information and that’s how I found Blue Vault and began using them.”
Meira has been investing in liquid and private alternative strategies for over a decade. All clients have some type of exposure to alternatives whether in liquid traditional mutual fund or ETF format or in private non-traded vehicles. They find that high net worth investors often underestimate their ability to hold a small portion of their portfolio in semi-illiquid vehicles and can benefit from enhanced returns by allocating to private real estate, private credit, and private equity. Padilla says Meira has had good experiences with sponsors such as Stone Ridge, Blackstone, Invesco, Hines, ExchangeRight, Carlyle, Variant Investments, and ABR Dynamic Funds.
“The moment you start investing in alternative investments and non-traded funds, you need to expand the data sources you have access to for due diligence purposes,” Padilla says. “Blue Vault is one of those good data sources to look at and evaluate fund providers. The Blue Vault team has always been friendly, responsive, and helpful to me in my due diligence responsibilities.”
Learn more about Meira Wealth and consider joining them in becoming a Blue Vault member today!
