Our Story :: Prudeo Partners

Our Story

Seeing Vision in a Vacant Warehouse

If you ask any successful company today, most would tell you that they saw an opportunity before them, had a vision for what it could become, and took a leap of faith. And that is what happened with the father and son team, Michael and Jacob Krumholz. As manufacturing moved offshore, many of the textile mills in Reading, Pennsylvania, remained vacant. Without any prior business experience, Jacob saw an opportunity to turn the mills into a series of factory outlets, a concept that the Krumholz’s would replicate up and down the east coast.

After a decade of working in the family business, Michael accepted a promising international manufacturing management opportunity in Fresno, CA. Moving his young family to the West Coast seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime to expand his business experience. Unfortunately, that promise fell through, and Michael found himself working in the mortgage industry to support his wife and four young kids.

“I had never really thought about a career in financial services,” recounts Michael. Between his day job and teaching tennis lessons at night to make ends meet for the family, a growing fascination with the field of finance lead him to begin carving out a few hours late each night to study for the financial service exams. Those sleepless nights and many months of hard work finally paid off: he passed all the exams to become a financial planner.

Doing the Right Thing By People

Separated by thousands of miles on opposite coasts, Michael longed for his kids to be able to grow up alongside their grandparents, who were still living in Pennsylvania. Starting a new financial services business in Pennsylvania seemed like the best path toward that goal. He took the leap of faith, rented a small, upstairs “hole in the wall” loft and a dot matrix printer, and “Consumer Financial Group” (CFG) was born.

Without any background in marketing or sales, getting clients was hard. “It was bread and ketchup to start,” Michael remembers. One of his first clients came needing estate planning work, a new topic for Michael. Like he does today, Michael invested the time and a lot of heart into delivering a sound presentation on the topic. Doing right by the client was the most important thing.

“So where do we start?” was the client’s first response. Michael was shocked: “I was in such disbelief that I didn’t know what to say to him. I don’t know why he chose to go with me, but it worked out ok!” The new firm slowly added clients as the word spread about an advisor you could always trust to care and go the extra mile. Michael recounts: “It wasn’t about the money for me. It was always about doing the right thing by people.”

Meanwhile,

600 miles away in a university town in the middle of South Carolina, another story was forming. Andrew Todd recalls: “I never was interested in business - that’s for sure. I was good at talking to people. I just wanted to help people.” As he considered where to use this talent, he found psychology and sociology the most interesting undergraduate career path.

During college, he worked at a children’s home, a place that stretched his desire to venture into social work. Falling into financial management by default, Andrew’s father approached him one day: with several aging family members in the mix, would he be willing to manage their extended family’s finances? Reluctantly Andrew agreed. Caring for his family became the catalyst for Andrew’s growing interest in financial management.

The Lunch That Changed His Future

One day, Andrew’s father, now a well-known estate planning attorney, recommended having lunch with an investment friend, Robbie Cannon. While Robbie was only a few years older than Andrew, Andrew was surprised by Robbie’s offer of an internship at his new startup, Horizon Investments. Upon graduation, Andrew joined Robbie as only the firm’s third employee. “It was all on-the-job training. I spend the first year and a half working there, managing the firm’s software platforms.” Andrew remembers. Little did he know that Robbie’s relationship and exposure to the software behind financial management would play a pivotal role in Andrew’s future.

After the unexpected death of Andrew’s father and several career moves, Andrew decided to go out on his own. He recounts, “I took what I learned and ran with it. A lot of trial and error.” Like his future business partner Michael Krumholz, starting the firm was an uphill climb for the next few years.

After five years, he was approached by Larry Miller at Asset Management and Planning (AM&P). Larry realized he needed a succession plan, and Andrew had been recommended to him by a friend. “I’m not getting any younger. I need someone to take this over.” While Andrew appreciated the gesture, he initially said “no,” the memories of a former partnership still lingering in his mind. But Larry insisted, “Before you say no, why don’t you come over and see it.” Reluctantly Andrew visited the firm, leaving quite impressed with Larry’s operation. Andrew tentatively agreed to come over once a week and “try it out.” This arrangement continued for a year until Andrew concluded that AM&P was the right fit. “It was humbling, but it worked.” Andrew and Larry merged their businesses. The biggest issue for the firm had been technology, a strength of his from his first role at Horizon. Andrew jokes, “No one ever used the right click on the mouse.” By introducing new technology and processes, the firm saw new growth.

Joining Forces Together

Unbeknownst to both Michael and Andrew, another chance introduction would merge the two firms. Robbie Cannon approached Andrew with a request, “This is a guy who I would trust to do my stuff, and you ought to meet him.” The first conversation went well, and Andrew and Mike became fast friends. In thinking about the partnership, Michael recounts, “Goal planning for me started about a dozen years ago. Andrew and I started kicking the ideas back and forth and talking about the possibility of scaling goal planning and sharing that with other advisory practices.”

As friends with similar philosophies, Mike eventually decided to merge with AM&P. To Andrew, the timing couldn’t have been better. “At this point, I truly had another partner that I could collaborate with. I quickly realized that I didn’t want to do this on my own,” Andrew remembers. “We’ve been able to implement things quicker together than we would have separately.”

Preparing You for the Future

In a world where financial information, top analyst market reports, and today’s best stock picks are readily available, it became clear to Michael and Andrew that more information wasn’t the answer. People approach their investments with certain behaviors and with specific goals concerning their family and their future. In their experiences, both partners saw the need for a better approach to financial planning, one that focused on personal and family goals and answered the fundamental question most people have, “Will I have enough money in hand when I need it for the things that are important to me and my family?”

By coming alongside each client to listen and understand those goals, the firm operates with a unique, goal-based planning approach so that clients can have peace of mind about their future and be confident they are on the best financial path to reach what’s most important to them. As Michael and Andrew look to the future, their vision is to see clients enjoy freedom, confidence, and success in achieving their dreams while developing the most sought-after advisory team to serve them.

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