Steve Romick grew up in a tight-knit family in the San Fernando Valley and was very driven from a very young age. Even as a five-year-old, he wasn’t interested in failure and never gave up easily, a personality trait that has carried Steve through his career. Today Steve manages nearly $20 billion in assets and is a managing partner at First Pacific Advisors (FPA), an LA-based money management firm that manages $29 billion.
Steve’s passion to succeed, proficiency with numbers, and strong dislike of losing money have guided him to an accomplished career in money management, including the recognition of being named the 2013 Morningstar US Allocation Fund of the Year and earned him a nomination for Morningstar Manager of the Decade. Steve’s knowledge and perspective about money management and investing are built on 30 years of experience and understanding of risk and reward.
In this episode, Randall and Steve talk about Steve’s first experience with wealth management as an intern (and later an employee) for Kaplan, Nathan, & Co., the importance of self-education and self-awareness in investing, how to grow a money management firm, modern investment strategies, and how to be a successful money manager.
Topics Include:
- How Steve’s father influenced his interest in philanthropy
- The importance of reading and understanding shareholder reports
- How to encourage people to learn and understand their investments
- Who shouldn’t invest in a mutual fund
- Low risk/high reward investments
- Defining a hedge fund vs a mutual fund
- Advice for getting a job in this industry
- The ins-and-outs of growth at money management firm
- The story behind his nomination for the Morningstar Manager of the Decade
- What is the S&P 500 and why does it matter?
- Defining the MSCI ACWI Index
- Active vs passive investing
- Why you should avoid secularly challenged businesses when deciding to invest
- The two most important ingredients for success
- Whether people should use a money manager or manage their own money
- And other topics…
Steve Romick is the managing partner at First Pacific Advisors, a money management firm based in Los Angeles that manages $29 billion across multiple investment strategies. Before joining First Pacific Advisors, Steve was the chairman of Crescent Management and worked in for Kaplan, Nathan, & Co. In addition to managing the $10 billion FPA Crescent Mutual Fund, he also co-manages the FPA Hawkeye Hedge Fund and other multi-advisor strategies. He serves on many philanthropic boards, including Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Our House, and Phase One.
In 2013, Steve was the recipient of Morningstar’s U.S. Allocation Fund Manager of the Year and was nominated for the Morningstar Manager of the Decade. He earned a BS in Education from Northwestern University and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three kids.
