James T. Ahn - Financial Advisors

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James T. Ahn

Why I Love My Job

HH offers an environment where you can chart your own path within the firm. I value the fact that there are no products we need to sell or quotas that must be met to outside shareholders.

As a Senior Wealth Advisor with Halbert Hargrove’s Long Beach office, James engages with and advises clients on decisions that strongly impact their financial lives. As he puts it, “Every outcome is driven by doing what is truly in clients’ best interests. This allows us to sit on the same side of the table when important financial choices are made.” James enjoys educating clients—including translating complex investment and insurance concepts into everyday language.

Prior to joining Halbert Hargrove in 2012, James worked as a financial advisor with Citi Personal Wealth Management as well as Edward Jones Investments. He says two of the aspects of working at HH he most appreciates are “the ability to be fully engaged in our clients’ lives—and to be under zero pressure to sell products or report quarterly earnings to shareholders.”

James earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an Emphasis on International Relations from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was awarded the ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY™ designation by the University of Pittsburgh-affiliated Center for Fiduciary Studies and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

James is married to Sonia, an elementary school teacher with Los Angeles Unified School District and a lecturer with Loyola Marymount University; they share three children. Two things he’s particularly proud of: paying for his UCLA education by selling books door to door, and scoring four touchdowns in a single game. In his spare time James enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, attending concerts, camping, and golfing. He can be found on most weekends attending his kids’ games and dance classes.

Fun Fact

I have traveled to 20 countries and have driven cross-country in the U.S. eight times.

James’s Insights

Financial Planning News

Why is Umbrella Insurance Important?

Financial Planning News

How to manage a financial windfall—and take full advantage of the opportunities it presents

HH ranked No. 8 on the 2023 CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list

Last received September 2023 based on 12/31/2022 data.
CNBC enlisted data provider AccuPoint Solutions to assist with ranking.

View Ranking
Disclaimer and Methodology

Disclaimer

The rating is not indicative of Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors future performance. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors did not pay a fee to participate in the survey.

Methodology

CNBC enlisted data provider AccuPoint Solutions to assist with the ranking of registered investment advisors for this year’s FA 100 list.

The methodology consisted of first analyzing a variety of core data points from AccuPoint Solutions’ proprietary database of registered investment advisors. This analysis started with an initial list of 40,646 RIA firms from the Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory database. Through a process, the list was eventually cut to 812 RIAs with those firms meeting CNBC’s proprietary criteria.

CNBC staff sent an extensive email survey to all those firms that met the initial criteria to gather more details. In turn, those advisory firms filled out a comprehensive application in regard to their practice. The CNBC team verified that data with those firms and with the SEC regulatory database. AccuPoint once again applied CNBC’s proprietary weighted categories to further refine and rank the firms, ultimately creating the list of the top 100 firms.

The primary data points used in the analysis were reviewed, either as a minimum baseline or within a range, eliminating those firms that did not meet CNBC’s requirements. Once the initial list was compiled, weightings were also applied accordingly. These data points included:

Advisory firm’s regulatory/compliance record. (editor’s note: Each advisory firm’s CRD number was checked for validity. Any firm that had a disclosure on its SEC ADV was automatically disqualified from the ranking)
Number of years in the business.
Number of certified financial planners.
Number of employees.
Number of investment advisors registered with the firm.
The ratio of investment advisors to total number of employees.
Total assets under management.
Percentage of discretionary assets under management.
Total accounts under management.
Number of states where the RIA is registered.
Country of domicile.