A Captain of the Universe Who Cares

When Robert Parker Adams was younger, he wanted to be a “captain of the universe”. Today, after 21 years in financial services, he still has high aspirations. But as principal of A Safe Harbor, LLC, he also strives to be a caregiver. And that has made a big difference in the lives of his clients.

To understand how—and why—Adams this transition, let’s flash back a few years. Adams was a typical “small-town boy” growing up outside of Dallas, Texas. But he had ambition, along with athletic talent. Both of those qualities got him onto Texas Christian University’s football team. But unfortunately for his grade-point average, he . . . played a lot of football.

Not surprisingly, Adams ended up in Vietnam, where he grew up fast and started thinking about getting a real education. When he returned, he enrolled in Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, studying business and graduating in 1974. Two years later, he earned an MBA from the same university.

After he got his MBA, Adams ended up in public accounting and taxes for one of the then Big 8 accounting firms. He later did special projects for the chairman of a NYSE electronics company in Dallas, and, after being transferred to Tampa, Florida, he launched a material-handling distribution company. That firm grew rapidly, and he sold it four years later.

In 1987, Adams decided to leverage his interest in investments by joining a national wirehouse brokerage. The company’s training program was great, resulting in a productive seven-year run. But something was missing. “I spent most of my time doing planning for my clients,” says Adams. “It never felt good doing transactions unless I also did the planning.”

So in 1994, he left the securities business and became a partner in a friend’s property-casualty insurance agency. After helping his friend to shore up the agency’s weak spots, Adams helped him sell the business. This experience whetted Adam’s interest in running his own shop.

In 1996, he achieved that dream, launching A Safe Harbor, LLC, in Orlando/Winter Park, Florida. Now he had free rein to really get to know—and serve—his clients. “I realized I enjoyed working with people,” Adams explains. “My average appointment is probably an hour and a half to two hours long. That’s my caregiver niche.”

Further solidifying that niche was Adams’ experience caring for his 72-year-old aunt with full-term Alzheimer’s.  That experience taught him the importance of taking the time to listen to people and to care about them.

Working under his own banner, Adams found the right balance between serving highly affluent clients and caring for retirees with financial problems, but not a whole lot of assets. “I’m able to sit down with wealthy individuals and do advanced financial planning,” says Adams. “But I also spend time with people with issues no one wants to address. It’s almost as much fun to generate an extra $10 a month for a retiree as it is to help an affluent client save millions in taxes.

“That’s a great crime in our industry,” Adams continues. “If you’re funded, a lot of people want to work with you. But if you lack resources, you may not have much opportunity to get reliable financial advice.”

Fortunately for Adams’ clients, they now have access to a financial advisor who can help them with their wealth accumulation, preservation of assets, long-term care and life insurance, and tax and estate planning. A special focus is showing them how to do asset distributions from their IRAs. “I’m a bean counter at heart,” says Adams. “I guess that explains my strong interest in IRA tax-deferrals and how to manage distributions in the most tax efficient manner. Studying with and being a member of Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group® has been important.”

Adams membership in the National Ethics Bureau has also been an advantage. “I’m not a shy fellow, and I’m proud of myself,” he quips. “But a third-party reference [such as NEB] can mean the world to a prospective client. If you’re in this business, you need to be checked out by someone independent.”

Ultimately, what matters most to Adams is getting an opportunity to help his clients define and accomplish their financial dreams. To that end, he believes in dealing with clients in a caring and ethical manner. “I sincerely believe in trying to do the right thing,” he says. “I try to give clients what I promise. And if I make a mistake, I let them know about it as soon as possible and make the appropriate corrections.”

Which is exactly what you’d expect from a “captain of the universe” who wears a caregiver’s cape.   As Adams says, “It is as much fun to give as to receive.”

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