Archer Investment Management Names Emily Rassam Partner

We are thrilled to announce that Emily Rassam has been named a partner here at Archer Investment Management! 

Serving as Senior Financial Planner at Archer since January 2022, Emily has already been integral to the company’s growth and success. Her new role makes her a central part of what we are able to achieve and offer to our clients. 

Hear what owner Richard Archer and Emily herself have to say about the news, and how it will benefit our current and future clients moving forward.

Richard, what inspired the decision to make Emily a partner at Archer Investment Management?

Richard Archer: 

I knew when I hired her she would someday be made partner. I may have even talked about it when we were interviewing her years ago. It’s something you just know instantly when you meet her. 

Emily brings an unparalleled work ethic, level of detail, and thoughtfulness I never thought we would find. 

For a firm our size to land somebody like Emily is unprecedented. Typically, we would lose her to one of the big Wall Street firms. Making her a partner is a no-brainer, we got so lucky to hire her.

She adds tremendous value to our firm and clients. She has improved our internal processes, increased how we leverage technology and leveled up our financial planning department. Now that she was named an Investopedia Top 100 Advisor, she’s also at the forefront of our industry on a national level.

Then there’s her expertise in executive benefits, retirement plans, Social Security, insurance, and annuities, as well as how quickly she learns and adapts to the ever-changing world of tax planning and estate planning. Not everybody can do that. Everybody freaks out because Emily operates at light speed right along with me, and only she can do that. 

She also brings a different perspective. If you’re lucky enough to get both of us in the meeting at the same time, she brings a different kind of acuity, a different emotional intelligence. I’ve become deeply investment-focused. Emily has gone radically deep, owning the financial planning process. So as the firm grows, we’ve been able to divide and conquer and do more than one of us could do on our own. 

What special traits do you think Emily has that allow her to serve clients so well? 

Richard Archer: 

Emily is the best listener you’ll ever meet. 

She listens between the lines. She’s been a financial planner for a long time, so when she hears things, she tries to understand the emotional motivations behind people’s actions. 

This has a big impact on the decisions and recommendations we make for our clients. Being an excellent financial planner is more than just crunching numbers–these are people we’re dealing with. 

Also, Emily has wisdom and maturity that is well beyond her years. To think that she’s still in her 30s would blow most people’s minds, considering what she’s accomplished and what she’s doing now. 

I’m 11 years older than her and have had more time behind the wheel, but she keeps up with me with no problem at all. Not even an issue with us.

How does Emily fit into the company’s growth and capabilities going into the future? 

Richard Archer: 

One of the reasons we’re making Emily partner is that many clients who hire us want to make sure we’re here for them throughout their retirement. 

Having a younger partner to create another decade of continuity beyond me is an absolute must to give our clients a firm they can rely on to be there for all their life transitions for years to come. 

Being an entrepreneur, sharing equity or control of the firm is a little scary. You’ve built this as your baby, literally from thin air. Making someone a partner is like getting married, but it’s even harder in some ways! We spend a lot of time together. We’re very invested. 

Luckily, I’ve found somebody in Emily who always puts clients first. Someone who has unwavering ethics. Who, frankly, makes me better at my job. Someone good at taking and giving criticism, because we both know we’re trying to improve. That’s huge. 

We also share the same vision to push financial planning beyond where it is now. 

We’re trying to become the firm of the future. 

Archer is growing like crazy because of the innovative ways we’re working with clients, how we leverage technology to run our firm more effectively, and the ways we are incorporating behavioral finance into our planning approach.

Let’s hear from Emily about what brought her to Archer Investment Management.

Emily, what first drew you in to work at Archer?

Emily Rassam: 

Richard and I clicked immediately. I appreciated his authenticity and transparency, and it was very clear to me that I would have a voice within the firm. I’ve always wanted to spend more time developing deeper financial plans and meaningful relationships with my clients. 

Working for a firm that prioritizes work-life balance and flexibility allows for the time it takes to do financial planning the right way. I could tell Richard values who he works with and truly cares about his clients and everybody on the team. 

At Archer, we don’t grow just to grow–we grow the right way. 

Another part of what drew me to Archer is how thoughtfully he chooses clients. In this industry, your clients are like you; they’re drawn to similar people. So because I immediately really liked Richard and how he listened and approached conversations, I knew his clients would be great, too. 

I could also clearly see the direction of the firm. Richard loves to implement new technology. He’s open to making changes to build better processes and better serve our clients. And I knew if I joined the firm, I could amplify that impact and innovation.

There isn’t anything that I could say to Richard that he wouldn’t say, “Yes, let’s do it,” if it means having a better plan for our clients. 

That’s really cool for somebody in my position to be new to a firm and still be able to hit the ground running and implement different ideas. When Richard and I brainstorm together, what we end up with is better than what we could do alone. 

It’s just been such a wonderful surprise to have everything we discussed in my interview become a reality. My experience here has been better than I could have possibly expected. If I wrote down and designed the perfect firm, Archer would exceed that. I have the freedom and flexibility to build how I want and choose who I want to work with. You don’t get that with a bigger firm. 

With the opportunity to become a partner, I feel so grateful, and I feel like Richard truly sees me. I have a mentor who invests in me, cares about me, and fully wants to see me succeed, and that means the world to me.

What do you think Archer does that goes beyond what other firms offer?

Emily Rassam: 

Our number one goal is to understand our clients. To understand what’s important and meaningful to them. 

To deeply understand our clients, we listen between the lines. We get so much good information when we go into a meeting and leave space for people to just talk. We pick up these little nuggets, and then we’re able to build them a plan with considerations they never would have thought of. 

Yes, we help them optimize their taxes, portfolios, and organize other important financial affairs. But we also help them build more meaningful connections with family and friends, as well as increase their life experiences. 

At the end of the day, our goal is to help people use their money to have the best life experiences possible. 

We might nudge our clients to do all kinds of things they didn’t realize they were even going to talk to us about. But we listen and help deliver on that. 

For example, I had a client come to me recently from my old firm, and I asked them what motivated them to find me again. They said they had listened to the advice I gave them the last time we talked. They gave money to their kids and scheduled a family vacation. And they said it’s the best money they’ve ever spent. 

What they took away from our prior meetings wasn’t the estate planning or lowering their taxes – even though we did do both successfully. It was the family connection and utilizing their money to live an amazing life now. 

Are there new approaches the company will take to continue serving its clients better?

Emily Rassam: 

One of the biggest things we are spearheading right now is helping clients deeply understand why they spend and save the way that they do. There’s a lot of value in educating somebody on their motivations. 

The reasons could be internal, such as conscious or unconscious biases people hold about money. Or it could be external, like Amazon’s easy buttons for making purchases or something your parents said about money growing up. 

If we can understand ourselves better, we can make more intentional and strategic decisions in our finances that are aligned with our long-term goals.

We help clients understand what may be impacting or influencing their decisions that they might not even realize themselves. We examine what they’re currently focusing on, and whether that’s really the most meaningful, rewarding areas to focus their time, attention, and money. We help them stop and think and dig deeper than before to set different financial goals. 

What’s interesting about our processes is how our goal isn’t to maximize our clients’ ending net worth. We help people plan well for tomorrow while still living fully today; it’s a beautiful experience when done well.

Our planning approach is similar to the appeal of work-life balance. We help people balance their money throughout their lifetime and integrate happiness on the journey to their big financial goals. We provide security in helping people understand how much they will need for the rest of their lives and what they can utilize to make memories today. We help people really see the full big picture of money over their lifetime. 

Get Help With Your Finances

Ready to have a plan for your financial life that gives you a clear path to success with the flexibility to enjoy life now?

Schedule a meeting with our team.