Mike Clarke

CoFounder, Director of Advisor Development

Michael is the second generation in the financial services industry. He became fascinated with the profession when visiting his mother’s office in San Francisco where she worked as a representative for a large Financial services firm. He found the relationships she was able to build with her clients as well as her level of professionalism very inspiring.

Michael knows that every client’s financial goals are as varied as their personalities. Therefore, he is dedicated to spending the extra time with each client to ensure all their thoughts and needs have been addressed and documented. Michael is sure to engender their peace of mind around the solutions they create together. As a co-founder of Protection Point Advisors Group, EWG Elevate, Protection Point Advisors and having logging over 22 years as an advisor, Michael is proud to carry on the core values that inspired him so early in his life.

Protection Point Advisors has helped me with the support I needed to grow. I feel like I can take on much bigger clients with confidence, knowing that their portfolios and processes can keep up with me. My old way of doing things got in the way of my growth. I started in financial services in 1993 with my father’s insurance brokerage. I loved the freedom this business offers and love building and maintaining relationships but growing the business past a certain point was a challenge. Learning about all the products and managing them was a struggle. Staying on top of portfolios was even more of a challenge. Growing my “centers of influence” helped some with the marketing, but there never seemed to be enough leads, and it was tough balancing the nurturing of the referral sources and doing all the other things you need to do to manage your practice. Selling new clients sometimes got left out. I needed tools to grow and a better way of working. I worked with and looked at several firms that said they could help me, but they all fell short. Each firm did two or three things, but only Protection Point Advisors seem to be able to do them all. I now have the support I need to meet with any client. I feel comfortable meeting with a nurse or a $20M client, because with Protection Point Advisors, I can exceed their expectations. Because of this, I can now target a higher-level client. I can offer them more value and better results than they can get anywhere else!

— Mike Welker

If someone told me that in 6 months, I would have 10 million in new AUM, I would not believe them. I have background in helping clients with Options and Technical Analysis and spent a few years in the insurance side of the business. I had hit that invisible operations ceiling that kept me from growing. I was introduced to Protection Point Advisors and I was very skeptical of everything I heard. I had looked at a few RIA’s and there were a lot of promises, but few delivered when it came to actual help. It took me a couple of weeks of looking at Protection Point closely to really absorb everything they have here. I spoke to a few advisors working with them and I realized this is everything I was looking for in an RIA. My number one concern was finding an RIA that could give me complete systems and a track to run on. I think that my success is the result of their daily guidance and more importantly the systems we have here. What I love most about Protection Point Advisors is how they treat my clients. My clients love the support staff here and they tell me that at every client strategy meeting we have. The best part for me is the growth potential I see ahead of me. I use the PPA systems of prospecting, client retention and boosting referrals weekly and I know that don’t have that invisible glass business ceilings holding me back. My goal is hitting 100 million in AUM in the next five years. This was the best business move I have made.

— Patrick

I started working with EWG/Protection Point Advisors soon after coming to the United States. In 2009, it was about the worse time to begin a career in finance. The news was filled with not only the financial crisis, but also about the Bernie Madoff scandal. I was determined to find a company that would not only give me a job but also shared my values and ethics. Fortunately, I EWG/Protection Point Advisors hires specifically for strong people with strong values and offered me an office manager position. Over time, with their coaching and encouragement, I became a Financial Advisor, helping other people achieve the financial future they want.

I Love working with EWG/Protection Point Advisors. The office staff is warm and very helpful. I continually learn through the other advisors, and I have really appreciated the access I have with the founders of the company and their many years of experience. More importantly, the company has a unique culture of always focusing on the client and doing the right thing. It seems to me that those values come from the top, and they have done a good job attracting the right advisors.

At EWG we are always looking for ways to add value, innovating and building solutions that allow our clients to get a better client experience. We don’t worry about commission products or quotas, and that means we can better advise our clients. Finally, I love how clear specific steps are used to do things, like onboarding a client. It makes me feel good knowing that if something happens to me, my clients would experience the same process they are used to, with similar portfolios. I am not a lone advisor. I have a team behind me, clear systems to use and a continuity plan on top of that.

— Monica

The Protection Point Advisor (PPA) model allows me to be the advisor I always wanted to be. They have customizable portfolio solutions and a defined process that makes my job much more efficient. Since moving from a large well know brokerage, I am now free to provide my clients with best of breed investment models at the lowest cost. It’s rewarding to make recommendations, build portfolios and structure financial plans that are 100% in the client’s best interest. I now have the tools I need to finally do what I only imagined a year ago. Prior to PPA, I struggled with certain aspects of the advisor space. At one point, I was given a book of over 1,000 clients to manage. It was insane to think it would be possible to provide all of my clients with the level of service they needed to achieve their retirement goals. Most often, I would provide very high-level planning guidance and deliver a cookie cutter portfolio solution strictly of Mutual Funds or ETFs. There would be some customization but not nearly the level that is available to investors with the right advisor. The typical person seeking guidance does not realize that big firms need to protect themselves and in doing so they create one size fits all solutions for most of their investors. I needed a change. I considered other options along the way. I could start with a company like LPL or just try to custody with one of the big firms. This is not always a good fit for many folks looking to partner with broker dealer/custodian. There are asset minimums, questionable service (given my size), and I would lack the back-office team approach that really helped me out before. I wanted the best of both worlds. Ultimately, PPA is the best solution for me and my clients. I rely on a knowledgeable team to help me with the daily struggles of building and managing my book. Now I have the tools to give my clients the best of breed investment and planning solutions. I take pride in doing what is in the best interest of my clients and the PPA model gives me that ability.

— Mark

Protection Point Advisors makes it possible to run my practice the way I want, for the people I want to help. I was a mid-career changer who was teaching at a local university. I would help friends, do some real estate consulting, and take on financial projects during semester breaks. I never thought I could turn it into a business much less a full-time job. I was just having fun helping people. I had been aware of Protection Point for several years but it wasn’t until I was at a wedding and sat with some PPA clients that I considered reaching out. The clients I sat with were very happy with their experience and encouraged me to contact Protection Point. I said to my wife on the way home, “it must be a special place if their clients are recruiting me”. I gave them a call six years ago and have been very happy with the experience. Protection Point has helped me get my CFP designation and has been supportive of all my non-profit endeavors. I still do some real estate consulting and run a small family office my great grandparents started. Doing all those things would be impossible without the infrastructure I get from Protection Point. The compliance and trading team especially is a standout point for me. They're always available to discuss strategies for implementing ideas. The whole company is incredibly solution oriented.

— Eric