Evan Harp sat down with Chris Byrne of Byrne Financial Freedom to discuss his practice, being the youngest person in the room, and more.
Evan Harp: When and how did your practice begin?
Chris Byrne: Our firm, Byrne Financial Freedom, was started in 2006 by my dad, Joseph Byrne. He grew it. He’d been with LPL prior. In 2016, we broke $100 million in assets under management — he grew it pretty aggressively in the first 10 years.
I joined the firm in 2019. My older brother, Brian, joined the firm in 2016. Here in 2024, our assets under management are at about 470 million. We have two offices, one in Franklin, Massachusetts, and one in Fort Myers, Florida. We serve about 800 families across the country.
Chris Byrne on How He Approaches Investing
Harp: What is your investment philosophy?
Byrne: We are financial planners. All of our clients, about 85%, have a financial plan. They’ve met with us and we put time into it. We base our financial plans on 6% pre-retirement growth rates and 5% growth in retirement. A lot of our clients do get more than that, but we are a low-risk shop. We are moderate investors. We have investment models in-house and we invest mainly domestically, not as much overseas. Also, we believe in keeping costs low using a balance of index funds and actively managed funds to try and drive excess returns while maintaining low risk parameters.
Being the Youngest Person in the Room
Harp: What’s the biggest obstacle you had to overcome and how did you do it?
Byrne: The biggest obstacle for me is often just being the youngest person in the room. I’m 31. I meet with clients over twice my age. I’ve always been an old soul, so I do well connecting with people, but I have to hold myself back and not try to overcomplicate things just to prove my worth. Which can be a challenge. I lean into trying to just be there and connect with clients and making sure they feel heard. It’s not about me, it’s not about what I know, or what I can prove. It’s about them feeling comfortable and achieving their goals.
Byrne on the Current Market
Harp: What’s something that’s happening in the market right now that you think not enough people are paying attention to?
Byrne: That’s a good question. I think people are paying a lot of attention to this, but inflation has picked up quite a bit. The numbers behind that — I’m not as concerned as the news cycle might be. I think, right now is a pretty advantageous time to lock in long-duration assets. People are paying a lot of attention to inflation and the concerns around it.
But people aren’t paying enough attention to the fact that you can lock in 20-30-year loans to the U.S. government at four and a half percent, if you’re basing a retirement plan for someone in their 50s or 60s that has a 30-year time horizon on a 5% retirement return, then, essentially at no risk, if you believe in the U.S. government, you can lock in a pretty solid base to some of your portfolio from an income standpoint, in U.S. Treasuries. I think those are going underappreciated right now and I’m paying attention to that.
Financial Advisors that Inspire Byrne
Harp: Who is another financial adviser that inspires you and why?
Byrne: That’s a loaded question because I work with and for my dad [laughs]. I’m kind of his shadow. He definitely inspires me – he built this business years ago on the foundation of helping people, and I know that can sound a certain way, but we truly live that value in our business. A lot of our clients are family and friends. When we meet new clients from other clients, then they become family and friends to us. My dad is a community man. He inspires me to just put myself out there and be there for people because people thrive on connecting. Part of being a good advisor is just being a good person.
I also want to shout out to Gary Walsh. He’s been with our firm for about 15 years, working closely with my dad. He’s been a huge mentor to me, teaching me some of the more technical aspects of the business.
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