A Message From Alvin Clay

"My reputation for trustworthiness is more important to me than any professional credential or accomplishment."

I am a Certified Financial Planner, a CPA and have a master's in tax law. For over 35 years I have been in the business of providing financial advice, and my experience includes:

  • Developing an early financial planning practice at Ernst & Whinney CPA's.
  • Serving as tax director and head of financial planning advice at the Butcher & Company investment banking and brokerage firm. 
  • Becoming CEO of Pitcairn Trust Company after leading its tax department and wealth management group.
  • Joining Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc.in acquiring Davidson Trust Company; I reorganized Davidson's service offering, managed it through the most difficult financial markets in our country's history and helped sell the company in 2012 to Bryn Mawr Trust Company, strengthening both firms in the process.

I have dedicated many hours (and years) to charitable service and counseling. As an ordained Catholic deacon, I preach at Masses and provide guidance on moral and spiritual matters. In addition, I enjoy speaking to business groups about instilling moral principles in the workplace. Being successful at providing financial advice depends in large part on the ability to understand the needs and priorities of clients, even if those needs don't fit neatly on a spreadsheet. Clients must believe that their financial advisor understands their needs and will only act with their best interest at the forefront. My reputation for trustworthiness is more important to me than any professional credential or accomplishment.

Alvin Clay
Founder and Managing Partner

Integrity

A reputation for integrity is earned, of course. Honesty and trustworthiness are characteristics of those persons and institutions who demonstrate by their actions that they tell the truth and "do the right thing" even when it is against their own apparent self-interest.

But in the spirit of the Russian proverb "trust but verify," persons who give financial advice must also adopt business and compensation structures that don't compromise objectivity, and ensure that the "fiduciary standard," acting only in the best interest of the client, is upheld.

Expertise

An honest person who doesn't know what he is talking about still doesn't make a very good advisor. The financial advice industry is filled with people with "thin" credentials. Alvin Clay has the academic degrees, professional certifications and decades of experience necessary to give advice that is technically sound.

Wisdom

Not every problem can be solved on a spreadsheet. And financial advice is not only about numbers, but about hopes and fears, values and principles. Financial goals don't stand on their own, but support our life goals, our sense of well-being, and our view of society.

With decades of experience advising families, and witnessing countless decisions and their consequences, we can give advice that a computer cannot.


*Alvin Clay Financial Advisors LLC does not sell financial products and earns no commissions on transactions. Our advice is independent of our compensation.