Mark Valdez seeks to provide personal and business success to individuals willing to invest time to understand their financial picture, implement a plan and work toward their goals.
Mark has been serving individuals and business owners for more than a decade. Prior to becoming a financial advisor, he worked at DOW Chemicals, a real estate investment company and as an executive director of a nonprofit organization. Mark is an energetic and curious person with an interest in expanding his knowledge and honing his craft. To that end, he has achieved various advanced degrees in finance and social work, and has obtained the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist® (CRPS®) designation. The combination of his professional experience and academic rigor allows Mark to serve both individuals and senior corporate executives, who often have unique and complex situations.
He assists clients first by listening to discern their most important goals and objectives, then he educates them on the basics of portfolio design and articulates a financial solution that allows the client to have perspective on their finances and prioritize their actions. For individuals, Mark has created a three-step collective process: financial planning, asset management and income distribution. He believes this process aligns the clients’ goals with the investments and planning.
Mark assists business executives with institutional financial services, such as employee stock options, corporate benefits and institutional retirement. In addition, Mark evaluates the implementation of additional tax mitigation and corporate benefits, such as defined benefit plans, non-qualified plans, employee stock option plans and alternative structures like captive companies.
Lastly, Mark works with companies to assist in their capital credit needs through corporate lending and working with mid-tier and national investment banks. When Mark begins to work with a company, his preliminary assessment begins with corporate tax mitigation, treasury management and assessing capital needs.
Education, specialized training and registrations:
- F., Investment Management and Financial Analysis, Creighton University
- B.A., Finance, University of St. Thomas
- SW., Social Work, University of Houston
- A., Psychology, Honor Program at the University of St. Thomas
- Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist® (CRPS®) Designation
- Vice President, Investments
- Senior Portfolio Manager
- Alternative Investment Director
- Dedicated Equity Compensation Specialist
- Executive Financial Service Director
- Assisted with equity compensation for over 20 publically traded companies
An active leader in the community, Mark has been a board member of several charity organizations, such as the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, the Rotary Club of Houston and the Holocaust Museum, where he still currently serves. He also has served as a member of the executive committee for the Lombardi Award, bestowed annually by Rotary International to the best college football player.