Arthur Castro • Tustin, CA
Summit and Surf Wealth Management • J.W. Cole Financial Inc.
Read full biography below

Proactive Advisor Magazine: Artie, please talk about how your financial-services career has evolved.

While attending California State University, Fullerton, I initially thought I’d follow my father’s footsteps into public administration. Along with my studies, I also pursued my passions for water sports and snowboarding. My part-time job at a ski shop led to an opportunity to become a snowboard instructor at Bear Mountain, a major ski area in California. Snowboarding was in its infancy, and it was an exciting time. I competed in the U.S. and abroad, starting on amateur circuits before moving up to professional tours, with several industry sponsors supporting me. I completed college by splitting my time between attending school and competitions. I also competed on what is now known as the World Surf League (WSL) Longboard Tour. These experiences led to my first significant investment, using the money I had earned to purchase an investment property in Orange County.

After college, I worked for several years as a manufacturer’s representative for major ski and snowboard brands. A relative in the financial-services industry suggested that my people skills and business background could make me a good fit for the field. Encouraged by this, I took an opportunity in 1997 to join Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. I received excellent training and mentorship there, winning the National Sales Director Award in my first year and eventually moving up to senior financial advisor. Later, I became an associate vice president at Merrill Lynch and then a vice president at Bank of America. Through this phase of my career, I focused on expanding my industry knowledge, growing my client base, and helping clients develop sound investment strategies. I think that working for three companies that excel in investment banking, retail brokerage, and consumer and business banking services has given me a comprehensive view of the industry.

I decided to become an independent investment advisor in 2006 and began my affiliation as a registered representative and investment advisor with J.W. Cole Financial and J.W. Cole Advisors in 2013. I named my firm Summit and Surf Wealth Management to reflect my strong passion for outdoor sports and the environment. Our firm has had a steady record of growth, and I feel honored to serve the comprehensive wealth-management, retirement-planning, and investment needs of our individual, family, and business clients.

How do you approach the planning process with clients?

Accomplishing specific financial objectives requires a solid financial plan, and we are dedicated to offering professional support, education, and informed direction to our clients. Although “holistic planning” might seem overused in our industry, it genuinely reflects our approach—we consider every aspect of a client’s financial life to develop comprehensive and integrated strategies. The needs of business owners might be more complex and differ from our other clients, but our planning philosophy remains the same.

Before meeting with any prospective client, I conduct as much research about them as I can. However, the first meeting is really theirs, with me guiding the conversation to gather as much relevant information as possible. The qualitative aspects are crucial: What do they value most? How do they see their career or business progressing? What do they enjoy doing? What is their relationship with money and experience with investing? What is their ideal retirement scenario? Do they have unique family circumstances, such as elder-care needs, health issues, or dependents with disabilities? We also compile comprehensive details on their financial status, benefits programs, investment holdings, insurance policies, and other financial assets and liabilities. Through this consultative discovery process, we aim to fully understand each client, family, or business owner, identifying broad planning issues and priorities.

I describe our process as goals-based. We use interactive planning software to connect clients’ short-term and long-term goals with personalized strategies across their investment or retirement-income planning. This data-driven process allows us to explore different scenarios and establish actionable next steps. We also spend a lot of time assessing a client’s risk profile through discussion and a quantitative methodology.

Our comprehensive planning covers a broad spectrum of areas, including Social Security planning, estate planning, managing health-care costs, insurance planning to manage risk, and optimizing tax efficiencies. We gladly collaborate with other professionals our clients already work with, such as accountants, attorneys, or mortgage lenders, or we can recommend trusted professionals. The iterative and consultative process continues through agreement on strategy implementation and periodic reviews to monitor progress versus objectives. I often compare financial planning to a long road trip: Detours, bad weather, and unexpected events may occur. But as long as we have a clear destination in mind, we can help them find their way back to the planned route. My competitive sports career taught me that preparation and execution are the keys to successfully pursuing any goal.

What is your overall investment philosophy?

We tailor each client’s investment plan to their risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment goals. The plan for a younger person in the wealth-accumulation phase will likely differ markedly from that of a couple nearing retirement and focusing on wealth distribution. We work closely with a few select third-party asset managers to build a risk-appropriate portfolio allocation that meets the client’s needs. We closely analyze asset allocation and diversification, portfolio structure and efficiency, portfolio risk, tax efficiency, and historical return probabilities. We also use tools such as a crash-test analysis to examine how a portfolio might perform under worst-case scenarios.

When I first entered the industry, the dominant approach to portfolio management emphasized identifying and passively holding high-quality mutual funds or individual stocks or bonds. The market displacements of this century have certainly affected my views about portfolio construction. It’s not the short-term performance that matters; rather, it’s about building a resilient portfolio that can withstand unfavorable market conditions while seeking to provide competitive returns over the long term. I educate clients about market cycles, the sequence of returns, the mathematics of portfolio losses, and the importance of risk management.

Working with third-party asset managers offers several advantages. They provide access to the research capabilities and focus of a dedicated team of investment strategists—as well as sophisticated strategy offerings that can help meet client objectives across the risk profile spectrum. We can create diversified portfolios that seek to mitigate risk by using varied asset classes allocated among a blend of managed strategies, each guided by a different methodology. Typically, client portfolios will include both tactical strategies, which can adapt to market conditions, and more passive long-term strategies that form the portfolio’s core. My role is to act as a client’s collaborative investment consultant, conducting due diligence, assessing allocation and strategy alternatives, and monitoring performance versus objectives—rather than making daily investment decisions. Our goal for all clients, whether in qualified or nonqualified accounts, is to achieve a risk-reward ratio that aligns with their overall investment goals.

“… We are dedicated to offering professional support, education, and informed direction to our clients.”

What motivates you the most in serving your clients?

I have met so many great people through my love of outdoor sports, my work as an advisor, and my involvement with nonprofit organizations and our community. More than a few clients are related to all of these categories. Building my personal and professional network has been critical to our firm’s success. But it’s more than just a business motivation for me. I often ask my family, “How great is it that I can work every day with people who are not only clients but also my friends?” That is what drives my passion for guiding clients on their journey to financial success.