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For years, clients requested information on financial services, retirement plans, wealth management, and other investment vehicles, from Anders Minkler & Diehl LLP, an accounting firm based in St. Louis. The firm was hindered from really doing anything in this area until CPAs became eligible to receive referral fees and to form separate financial services entities. By late 1998, AMD put the wheels in motion for a new entity, AMD Financial Services LLC, and in the first quarter of 1999, AMDFS was up and running.
With 10 years experience in the financial services industry, Stan Royer is AMDFS's president and responsible for the overall direction of the firm.
"As an accounting and business consulting firm, it was logical for our clients to seek our advice on financial matters, particularly as they related to financial planning, so forming AMDFS became the next step for us. It was an extension of our core business and another opportunity for AMD to become a single source of financial advice for our clients. We felt there was significant opportunity to keep financial services in-house; therefore, we abided by the guidelines, which require a separate entrance and phone line, and opened AMDFS."
Back to the Majors
One source of clients is the result of a program Royer designed specifically for professional athletes. Royer was a first round draft pick out of college in 1988 and he spent four years with the St., Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox as a third baseman, compiling a batting average of .250 and credited with 102 putouts and only nine errors during his major league baseball career. "While this program utilizes products and services similar to those for other clients, we tailored and customized the strategies to meet the unique needs of pro athletes. Recently, we altered our program slightly, to customize it for athletes coming out of high school and college who have been drafted into professional sports. Since the parents and the coaches are integral decision makers in the lives of these young rising stars, we are targeting those two markets, as...