Michael T. Koenig, CFP®, J.M.
Education
University of Maryland
Bachelor’s Degree • Psychology
George Washington University
Professional Masters certification • Finance
Florida State University
College of Law • JurisMaster
College for Financial Planning
Certified Financial Planner® • CFP®
University of Miami School of Law
Heckerling Institute • Annual Continuing Education
Industry Experience
Financial Advisor / Management Training
Capital Holding Corporation
Advisory Council
FirsTrust
Practitioner Division
International Association for Financial Planning
Licenses & Affiliations
Certified Financial Planner®
CFP Board
Registered Investment Advisor Principal
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Registered Financial Advisor
National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
American Bar Association
Associate Member
“The most positive difference in my life will come from making the most positive difference in the life of others.”
Michael Koenig
Founding Partner
Interview Mike
How did you originally get into financial services?
Upon completing my psychology degree in 1987, my girlfriend's father recruited me into the financial service industry. (Today - same girl and same industry.)
Why did you create FirsTrust?
FirsTrust was created for advisors who want to serve their clients' best interests - where the scope of their advice is never dictated by a Wall Street profit agenda their paycheck is never dependent upon product sales.
What makes FirsTrust different from other firms?
By refusing to accept commissions or marketing incentives, our objectivity remains uncompromised. By remaining independent from any Wall Street profit agenda, our client loyalties remain undivided.
How has your post-graduate education shaped your career?
The financial service industry taught me sales and marketing. My graduate certificate in finance, the CFP® curriculum, and my law degree taught me how to apply real-world knowledge to truly serve clients rather than sell to them.”
What drives your advocacy in the financial industry?
I’ve always been an outspoken advocate for fairness and transparency. I believe advisors should focus on removing conflicts, not just talking about them, so clients can trust their guidance fully.
How do you handle complex estate and trust planning?
Each client’s situation is unique, and there are literally countless ways to customize solutions that can shelter assets from taxes, risks and creditors for multiple generations.
How do you ensure your team stays aligned with client interests?
I recruit the right people. Which isn't easy because the vast majority of financial advisors make a lot more money by charging fees and accepting third party marketing incentives, sales commissions, gifts, gratuities, kick-backs and all-expense-paid "conferences" in Vegas.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Implementing a complex estate tax strategy and showing the client how our services will saved them ten times more than they'll ever pay us in fees.
Mike's “Tuxedo” Moment
My life changed the day I met “Tuxedo.”
It’s 1980-something; I’m a rookie financial advisor on a vacation cruise with my wife, standing in the ship’s casino among a crowd of passengers who appear hypnotized by a large wheel spinning on the casino wall. As you might expect, the wheel contains the numbers 1 through 100, and the objective is to correctly pick which number will be at the top of the wheel once it stops.
But what catches my attention is the energetic young attendant in a tuxedo who is handing out little yellow pencils and white note cards that say “Number Tracker” across the top in bright red letters.
Tuxedo spins the wheel and a few gamblers place their bets, but the majority of the crowd just stands there gazing at the wheel. Each time the wheel stops, Tuxedo yells out the winning number, and the spectators bow their heads to scribble something on their Number Tracker cards.
My curiosity grows, and I finally have to ask:
“Excuse me, Sir,” I said to the elderly man standing next to me, “May I ask what everyone’s doing?”
He reluctantly revealed his Number Tracker card and said, “We’re tracking the numbers.”
As I studied his card, I saw that he had marked an “X” across the numbers that won in recent spins. “Number 34 just won,” he said, “so I know that I should not bet on it right now.”
“Why not?” I asked.
He raised his eyebrows and glared at me over his glasses. “Odds are against it,” he said. “How likely is it that 34 will win again on the very next spin?”
I quickly answered, “One in a hundred.”
He looked to the ceiling for patience and calmed himself with a deep breath.
“Now look,” he said – speaking a bit slower so I could keep up. “Statistically, the chances of number 34 coming up twice in a row are pretty slim, so I crossed it off my card. Understand?”
“Actually,” I replied, “every time the wheel spins, each number has a one-in-a-hundred chance of winning. It doesn’t matter which number won last time.”
The man threw his hands in the air and sarcastically barked, “Oh, I see; you’ve got it all figured out and the rest of us are just a bunch of dummies, huh?”
He returned to his task as I stood there with one of those “Are you serious?” looks on my face.
And that’s when it occurred to me: Who created these “Number Tracker” cards and provided the little yellow pencils?
That’s right – the casino did. They know that humans tend to validate risk through irrational behaviors, so the house promotes it – and profits from it – through people like Tuxedo who distribute the tools for innocent people to do it with.
I looked over at Tuxedo and I instantly hated him. Or felt sorry for him. Or both. I couldn’t tell. He’s either ignorant or he’s complicit – but there’s no third option. And for the life of me, I couldn’t tell which.
So I just stood there, for quite a while, staring at Tuxedo, my brain simultaneously conflicted with both disdain and compassion as he spun the wheel and handed out more “Number Tracker” cards with little yellow pencils.
All of a sudden, I was overcome by a gut-wrenching thought:
“Am I a TUXEDO?”
Was I really a “Financial Advisor” to my clients, or was I only promoting solutions that profited my employer? The thought haunted me for the rest of the cruise; and by the time we returned to port, I had confidently decided I was forever done drinking the corporate Kool-Aid.
I resigned from the Wall Street institution that employed me and became an independent advisor – which instantly provided me with a broader, less expensive, and more competitive selection of financial choices for my clients.
I completed a 2-year Professional Masters program at George Washington University where I learned the HUGE difference between real financial planning and the corporate sales talk I had been required to peddle. I became a Certified Financial Planner® and a NAPFA-Registered Fee-Only financial advisor so clients could trust that my advice and recommendations were never influenced by sales commissions or marketing incentives. And I created FirsTrust by surrounding myself with other professionals who insist upon doing what’s absolutely best for their clients.