Firm History
by Jack M. Firestone
“Through twenty-five years of market and economic cycles, we’ve been here for our clients. Their success is the only measure of our own, and we look forward to the next twenty years together.”
I founded Firestone Capital Management as a sole proprietorship in December 1991 when I split off my practice from Evensky, Brown & Katz. I had been with Evensky & Brown since their inception in the fall of 1986. In the early days, most advisors were dual licensed as brokers and Registered Investment Advisors. While I had both securities licenses and insurance licenses, after going out on my own, I chose to do nearly all my new business on a fee-only basis.
In 1996, I was a solo practitioner in a one-room office with a single desk and telephone when I got a phone call which turned out to be decisive in the firm’s development.
Carol Kaufman was referred to me by Evensky. She had just received her CFP® designation and was looking for someone to mentor her in the wealth management business. After a three-hour lunch, I remember telling her, “This probably isn’t the right time, and I don’t even have a desk, but you are the one. Get a desk and a computer and come to work.”
We doubled our assets under management in that first year, becoming an SEC-registered firm in April 1997. That fall, we incorporated the firm and moved to a larger office in our current building. Our business continued to grow and over the next three years Carol became half owner of the firm.
By the fall of 2003, we had grown to the point where Carol and I knew we needed help, but we took our time to find just the right person. In January 2004, we finally found our future partner, Carlos Carbonell. Carlos earned his CFA charter in 2006 and became a partner at the beginning of 2007. In 2008, we moved to new, more spacious offices within the same building.
With the firm’s next generation secured, the next need was to add full-time research and portfolio management assistance. Anthony Poppe was well underway earning his CFA charter when he joined us in 2008, and became a CFP® certificant as well in 2010. Bailey Hallingby joined us in 2010, and in 2011 we established the Operations Manager position for Louise Owen who joined us from a prominent Seattle advisor.
Through twenty-five years of market and economic cycles, we’ve been here for our clients. Their success is the only measure of our own, and we look forward to the next twenty years together.