Choosing an Advisor
Zoe Team
7 min read
Zoe Financial was founded to solve the challenge of matching consumers with independent, fiduciary financial advisors.
The company experienced rapid growth, scaling from zero to over a thousand matches in less than one year.
The firm’s mission centers on transparency, trust, and ensuring investors receive unbiased, personalized financial guidance.
Zoe Financial matches individuals seeking financial guidance with independent, fiduciary financial advisors to ensure they receive transparent and unbiased advice.
Zoe Financial experienced rapid success, scaling from zero to over a thousand advisor-consumer matches in less than one year of operation.
The company was founded to address the difficulty consumers face in finding trustworthy, independent financial guidance that prioritizes their best interests.
How A Simple Bedtime Question Turned Into a Company
I want to reflect momentarily on how Zoe came to be and why we do what we do.
At Zoe, we match consumers with independent, fiduciary financial advisors. In less than a year, we exploded from zero to over a thousand matches nationwide. The traction attracted trusted investors, great press, and talent. Yet, it wasn’t an overnight success.
Back in 2011, I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School without a job. After stacking up 15 rejections for roles in asset management, I did what any sensible 29-year-old without a job would do—I took my wife to the beaches of Cartagena, Colombia, to recharge for a few days.
I was wearing a bathing suit in the back of a smelly taxi as we hurtled down the cobblestone streets of Cartagena when I got “The Call.” JP Morgan Asset Management wanted me to swing by their NYC offices to present for a role as a global market strategist. I’d soon be doing in-depth research on the economy and markets and communicating the findings to our clients: financial advisors. Within 18 months, I went from Associate to Executive Director. The bank elevated me to spokesperson status; I did CNBC TV spots and was quoted in The Wall Street Journal.
One of my favorite parts of the job was presenting to large audiences of our clients’ clients—by which I mean regular, real, non-finance folks. I absolutely loved finding ways to explain complex topics—like the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing—in a simple, clear manner that everyone could understand.
After each presentation, I got pats on the back from people like Grace, who’d retired from Pepsi the prior year and had four grandchildren. Or Harold, who met his wife at his employer, General Electric, 20 years back and was now just a few years out from retirement. They shook my hand warmly and said, “Thanks for that…I’ll rest better at night knowing my money is in good hands.” I remember thinking,I can see myself doing this for a looooong time.
I was invited to present at a large conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was an internal powwow for 400 financial advisors at a large bank (which will remain nameless, you could substitute any of the major ones).
The stage was lit like a Beyoncé concert—though the people onstage were a bunch of slightly overweight, middle-aged men who’d been star athletes in high school. I was sitting in the backstage area, waiting for my turn to speak. By chance, the agenda had their annual award ceremony lined up just ahead of my speech. A big, booming voice called out:
The award for the Biggest Producer in the Mid-West Region is…
The award for Most Sales of Large Cap Growth in the East is…”
The voice droned on and on.
Finally, I turned to Stephanie, who worked in marketing for the bank and was sitting next to me, and asked, “What is a producer?” She said, “Oh, they mean the sales force…you know…the advisors.” She had a conflicted expression of both disgust and pride—like someone who’d once truly believed her firm had a purpose but now knew better.
I realized that I was witnessing the equivalent of doctors having an internal conferenceto celebrate which doctor had sold the most drugs to patients.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the sales profession—this is about context. These people called themselves financial advisors to their clients and promised to help them with the most important financial decisions of their lives…but they knew they were really salesmen. The “production” numbers Mr. Booming Voice was giving awards for were someone’s retirement dreams, college funds, and savings to buy a home.
I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t. I’d seen behind the curtain. Not long after that, I changed roles. As a research analyst, I could focus purely on identifying investment opportunities for the firm’s institutional clients (pensions and endowments). I thought,If I’m not interacting with financial advisors, I’m not part of the problem.
One night, as I was putting my four-year-old daughter to bed, she asked me what I did when I went to the office. I spent the next few minutes trying to convince her (and myself) that I was helping people with their money. She kept asking me, “But how?”
I couldn’t honestly answer her. Most of the professionals directly responsible for helping people with their money, the advisors, weren’t doing so. The worst part was that I knew the average person couldn’t tell the difference between a capable advisor and a salesperson.
As I walked back to my bedroom, a thought that would change my life crossed my mind: I know how advisors get paid. I know what a great advisor is supposed to do. What if I could help steer people to the right advisors: the advisors who have the knowledge, process, and incentives to help people with their money?
In my past work as a strategist, I encountered a minority of advisors who had a very different approach. For one, their incentives were more aligned with their clients—they operated independently and weren’t compensated via commission for selling a product. The only person compensating them was the client. Some of those advisors also had more reliable competencies, having passed the rigorous CFA or Certified Financial Planning® curriculum. Their focus wasn’t on picking stocks or mutual funds that would try to beat the market, but rather on deeply understanding each client’s financial life in a holistic way.
These rare advisors took into account your taxes, insurance, budgeting, goals, and fears, *before* guiding your investments. Basically, they were incorporatingyour whole financial lifeinto your decisions. That’s when I started playing on the word life. Vida in Spanish? Not quite. Wait a minute…the word Zoe, in Greek, meanslife.
By the time my wife woke up the next morning, I was waiting to have “the talk” about why leaving my high-paying job to pursue this endeavor was such a great idea. It turned out to be a quick chat—my wife fully supported the decision. She believed in me more than I believed in myself… and I’ll forever be grateful.
I’d love to tell you I had an amazing, perfect road map of how it was going to play out. Yet, that’s not the real world. Yes, I was excited, but I was also scared out of my mind. The early days were really tough. It was just me with this idea, and a lot of people (who happened to be benefitting from the old way of doing things) thought I was nuts.
Many mornings, I woke up and thought to myself, “I’m married with two young kids…what the hell was I thinking?” Then I’d remember the other option was to go back to work, regretting that I never took a stab at addressing obvious industry flaws—even though I had the knowledge and resources to do so.
We have helped thousands of people with billions of dollars in aggregate investments make the important decision of who they choose as their financial advisor. In 2023, we also launched the Zoe Wealth Platform, which provides capabilities that empower our advisor partners to provide more personalization and access to products that were only available to the ultra-rich. Our recent milestones have everyone—from our team to our investors—feeling excited, but we’re not patting ourselves on the back just yet.
For each person who has found a fiduciary advisor through Zoe, countless families are being peddled with expensive financial products daily by salespeople who dress up as advisors. For each advisor that uses our wealth platform to serve their clients, many use outdated and disjointed systems that provide a poor client digital experience. It’s our mission to grow and protect clients’ wealth. There are millions more to help.
Now, I look forward to answering my daughter’s question every day when I come home: “How many people did Zoe help today?”
How A Simple Bedtime Question Turned Into a Company
I want to reflect momentarily on how Zoe came to be and why we do what we do.
At Zoe, we match consumers with independent, fiduciary financial advisors. In less than a year, we exploded from zero to over a thousand matches nationwide. The traction attracted trusted investors, great press, and talent. Yet, it wasn’t an overnight success.
Back in 2011, I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School without a job. After stacking up 15 rejections for roles in asset management, I did what any sensible 29-year-old without a job would do—I took my wife to the beaches of Cartagena, Colombia, to recharge for a few days.
I was wearing a bathing suit in the back of a smelly taxi as we hurtled down the cobblestone streets of Cartagena when I got “The Call.” JP Morgan Asset Management wanted me to swing by their NYC offices to present for a role as a global market strategist. I’d soon be doing in-depth research on the economy and markets and communicating the findings to our clients: financial advisors. Within 18 months, I went from Associate to Executive Director. The bank elevated me to spokesperson status; I did CNBC TV spots and was quoted in The Wall Street Journal.
One of my favorite parts of the job was presenting to large audiences of our clients’ clients—by which I mean regular, real, non-finance folks. I absolutely loved finding ways to explain complex topics—like the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing—in a simple, clear manner that everyone could understand.
After each presentation, I got pats on the back from people like Grace, who’d retired from Pepsi the prior year and had four grandchildren. Or Harold, who met his wife at his employer, General Electric, 20 years back and was now just a few years out from retirement. They shook my hand warmly and said, “Thanks for that…I’ll rest better at night knowing my money is in good hands.” I remember thinking,I can see myself doing this for a looooong time.
I was invited to present at a large conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was an internal powwow for 400 financial advisors at a large bank (which will remain nameless, you could substitute any of the major ones).
The stage was lit like a Beyoncé concert—though the people onstage were a bunch of slightly overweight, middle-aged men who’d been star athletes in high school. I was sitting in the backstage area, waiting for my turn to speak. By chance, the agenda had their annual award ceremony lined up just ahead of my speech. A big, booming voice called out:
The award for the Biggest Producer in the Mid-West Region is…
The award for Most Sales of Large Cap Growth in the East is…”
The voice droned on and on.
Finally, I turned to Stephanie, who worked in marketing for the bank and was sitting next to me, and asked, “What is a producer?” She said, “Oh, they mean the sales force…you know…the advisors.” She had a conflicted expression of both disgust and pride—like someone who’d once truly believed her firm had a purpose but now knew better.
I realized that I was witnessing the equivalent of doctors having an internal conferenceto celebrate which doctor had sold the most drugs to patients.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the sales profession—this is about context. These people called themselves financial advisors to their clients and promised to help them with the most important financial decisions of their lives…but they knew they were really salesmen. The “production” numbers Mr. Booming Voice was giving awards for were someone’s retirement dreams, college funds, and savings to buy a home.
I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t. I’d seen behind the curtain. Not long after that, I changed roles. As a research analyst, I could focus purely on identifying investment opportunities for the firm’s institutional clients (pensions and endowments). I thought,If I’m not interacting with financial advisors, I’m not part of the problem.
One night, as I was putting my four-year-old daughter to bed, she asked me what I did when I went to the office. I spent the next few minutes trying to convince her (and myself) that I was helping people with their money. She kept asking me, “But how?”
I couldn’t honestly answer her. Most of the professionals directly responsible for helping people with their money, the advisors, weren’t doing so. The worst part was that I knew the average person couldn’t tell the difference between a capable advisor and a salesperson.
As I walked back to my bedroom, a thought that would change my life crossed my mind: I know how advisors get paid. I know what a great advisor is supposed to do. What if I could help steer people to the right advisors: the advisors who have the knowledge, process, and incentives to help people with their money?
In my past work as a strategist, I encountered a minority of advisors who had a very different approach. For one, their incentives were more aligned with their clients—they operated independently and weren’t compensated via commission for selling a product. The only person compensating them was the client. Some of those advisors also had more reliable competencies, having passed the rigorous CFA or Certified Financial Planning® curriculum. Their focus wasn’t on picking stocks or mutual funds that would try to beat the market, but rather on deeply understanding each client’s financial life in a holistic way.
These rare advisors took into account your taxes, insurance, budgeting, goals, and fears, *before* guiding your investments. Basically, they were incorporatingyour whole financial lifeinto your decisions. That’s when I started playing on the word life. Vida in Spanish? Not quite. Wait a minute…the word Zoe, in Greek, meanslife.
By the time my wife woke up the next morning, I was waiting to have “the talk” about why leaving my high-paying job to pursue this endeavor was such a great idea. It turned out to be a quick chat—my wife fully supported the decision. She believed in me more than I believed in myself… and I’ll forever be grateful.
I’d love to tell you I had an amazing, perfect road map of how it was going to play out. Yet, that’s not the real world. Yes, I was excited, but I was also scared out of my mind. The early days were really tough. It was just me with this idea, and a lot of people (who happened to be benefitting from the old way of doing things) thought I was nuts.
Many mornings, I woke up and thought to myself, “I’m married with two young kids…what the hell was I thinking?” Then I’d remember the other option was to go back to work, regretting that I never took a stab at addressing obvious industry flaws—even though I had the knowledge and resources to do so.
We have helped thousands of people with billions of dollars in aggregate investments make the important decision of who they choose as their financial advisor. In 2023, we also launched the Zoe Wealth Platform, which provides capabilities that empower our advisor partners to provide more personalization and access to products that were only available to the ultra-rich. Our recent milestones have everyone—from our team to our investors—feeling excited, but we’re not patting ourselves on the back just yet.
For each person who has found a fiduciary advisor through Zoe, countless families are being peddled with expensive financial products daily by salespeople who dress up as advisors. For each advisor that uses our wealth platform to serve their clients, many use outdated and disjointed systems that provide a poor client digital experience. It’s our mission to grow and protect clients’ wealth. There are millions more to help.
Now, I look forward to answering my daughter’s question every day when I come home: “How many people did Zoe help today?”
Disclosures: Zoe Financial, Inc. ("Zoe Financial") is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Zoe Financial provides investment advisory services and access to independent registered investment advisers through its platform. The information provided by Zoe Financial is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment advice or as an offer to buy or sell any security. All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Clients should consult with their own financial, tax, or legal professionals before making any investment decisions. The material presented by Zoe Financial is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Material presented has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however Adviser cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Zoe Financial does not provide legal or tax advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as legal or tax advice. SEC Registration does not constitute an endorsement of Zoe Financial by the SEC nor does it indicate that Zoe Financial has attained a particular level of skill or ability. The sole purpose of this material is to inform, and it in no way is intended to be an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any security, other investment or service, or to attract any funds or deposits. Investments mentioned may not be appropriate for all clients. Before making any investment, each investor should carefully consider the risks associated with the investment, as discussed in the applicable offering memorandum, and make a determination based upon their own particular circumstances, that the investment is consistent with their investment objectives and risk tolerance. Lower expenses do not guarantee better investment performance. Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the performance of a fund may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements.
Disclosure: This page is not investment advice and should not be relied on for such advice or as a substitute for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or financial advisors. The observations of industry trends should not be read as recommendations for stocks or sectors.
Investment advisory services are provided by Zoe Financial, Inc. (Zoe Financial), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Learn more about Zoe Financial on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. Brokerage services are provided by Zoe Securities LLC and Apex Clearing Corporation, members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Learn more about Zoe Securities and Apex on FINRA’s BrokerCheck website.
The information in the visuals above is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an actual user's account, balance, or return. Zoe Financial does not provide tax or legal advice.
Explore the Zoe Wealth Platform with AI
Some of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI. Please review and sense-check all outputs, as AI tools can occasionally produce incomplete or inaccurate information.
In certain situations, you may be required to disclose that the content was “generated by AI.” Please confirm any specific disclosure or labelling requirements with Compliance.
(646) 680-9244
support@zoefin.com
666 Third Ave, 6th Floor
New York, NY, 10017
Copyright © 2026 Zoe Financial, Inc. | All rights reserved
Find an Advisor
Retirement Planning
Disclosure: This page is not investment advice and should not be relied on for such advice or as a substitute for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or financial advisors. The observations of industry trends should not be read as recommendations for stocks or sectors.
Investment advisory services are provided by Zoe Financial, Inc. (Zoe Financial), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Learn more about Zoe Financial on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. Brokerage services are provided by Zoe Securities LLC and Apex Clearing Corporation, members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Learn more about Zoe Securities and Apex on FINRA’s BrokerCheck website.
The information in the visuals above is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an actual user's account, balance, or return. Zoe Financial does not provide tax or legal advice.
Explore the Zoe Wealth Platform with AI
Some of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI. Please review and sense-check all outputs, as AI tools can occasionally produce incomplete or inaccurate information.
In certain situations, you may be required to disclose that the content was “generated by AI.” Please confirm any specific disclosure or labelling requirements with Compliance.
(646) 680-9244
support@zoefin.com
666 Third Ave, 6th Floor
New York, NY, 10017
Copyright © 2026 Zoe Financial, Inc. | All rights reserved
Find an Advisor
Retirement Planning
Disclosure: This page is not investment advice and should not be relied on for such advice or as a substitute for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or financial advisors. The observations of industry trends should not be read as recommendations for stocks or sectors.
Investment advisory services are provided by Zoe Financial, Inc. (Zoe Financial), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Learn more about Zoe Financial on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. Brokerage services are provided by Zoe Securities LLC and Apex Clearing Corporation, members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Learn more about Zoe Securities and Apex on FINRA’s BrokerCheck website.
The information in the visuals above is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an actual user's account, balance, or return. Zoe Financial does not provide tax or legal advice.
Explore the Zoe Wealth Platform with AI
Some of this content may have been generated with the assistance of AI. Please review and sense-check all outputs, as AI tools can occasionally produce incomplete or inaccurate information.
In certain situations, you may be required to disclose that the content was “generated by AI.” Please confirm any specific disclosure or labelling requirements with Compliance.
(646) 680-9244
support@zoefin.com
666 Third Ave, 6th Floor
New York, NY, 10017
Copyright © 2025 Zoe Financial, Inc. | All rights reserved
