athlete wealth

Tailoring a portfolio to your needs is very similar to designing and constructing a home for you. A general plan needs to be established based on how many rooms are needed, what style and functionality are desired, and what amenities and extras can fit in the most optimal and seamless way.

It takes communication for the architect and designer to understand what is needed, and a plan needs to be drawn up to execute on those requirements.

Your portfolio is constructed in a similar fashion. Your most important priorities are used to sculpt the foundation, and the placement of rooms, amenities, and features flow from this foundation. 

A thoughtful approach ensures that you have everything you need and that you don’t run into any shortcomings in the future. Planning and intentionality separate a portfolio that works for now from one that will work for the rest of your life to achieve your purpose.

Have questions for an upcoming episode? Want to get free resources, book giveaways, and AWM gear? Want to hear about when we release new episodes? Text “insights” or the lightbulb emoji (💡) to Brandon at (602) 704-5574 to join our new AWM Insights Network. On an iPhone? Click HERE to join.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:09 Inflation- Does it matter and how are we navigating through it
• 2:30 What can we do to outpace inflation
• 3:56 How to insulate your portfolio against inflationary pressures
• 6:18 Why taking a purpose-driven approach makes life less stressful and improves your odds of achieving your goals
• 7:33 FOMO in the crypto world, News around SBF
• 9:35 How do we evaluate risky opportunities, and why due diligence matters
• 12:01 Governance and red flags with FTX
• 12:43 Involvement and Endowments with Athletes and Celebrities
• 13:47 What do excess resources mean to you
• 14:15 Hype Cycles
• 15:45 Key takeaway- Ask questions, do your research, take an appropriate level of risk
• 16:57 Wrap up

Welcome to the MLB Draft Podcast, the proven playbook to help you navigate the Draft Process successfully. 

Our goal is to inform you, support you, and help you achieve the greatest amount of success which we define as:

1. Fulfilling your potential to become the best MLB player and;
2. Maximizing the financial opportunity that is a byproduct of achieving #1

The challenge: Winning is not guaranteed. 

History is littered with "can't miss" players who never made it and volumes of athletes experiencing financial ruin. 

The good news is the results are mainly in your control. If you follow this playbook, you will win.

What's at stake?

Scouts, agents, showcases & NIL. You are now a part of an $11 billion industry. 

Everyone you interact with is making a business decision. So are you. 

The only question is: how confident are you that you are making the right decisions?

Why Listen to Us?

We are former players who have personally walked this path and now guide the best players in the game. This is our business.

• 100+ MLB players represented by 29 different agencies
• MLB clients' earnings of $3,000,000,000+
• 58 1st-Round Draft Picks
• Multiple 1sts Overall Draft Picks

Download your FREE copy of our book: MLB Draft Handbook

Schedule a time to talk

How do you establish a family legacy that transfers to the next generation? This is the most difficult task ultra-high net worth families will face. Of course, technical expertise is important when creating a legacy that will last generations, but the next generation must be prepared to steward wealth. Waiting until it’s too late is the worst thing you can do as a wealthy family.

If transferring your family culture is important to you, the right team with the right experience can prepare your family for generational wealth transfer decades before it actually happens. 

Have questions for an upcoming episode? Want to get free resources, book giveaways, and AWM gear? Want to hear about when we release new episodes? Text “insights” or the lightbulb emoji (💡) to Brandon at (602) 704-5574 to join our new AWM Insights Network. On an iPhone? Click HERE to join.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• (0:54) Why do you have an advisor? From just starting out up to ultra-high net worth ($30MM+), what is different in the advice? 
• (1:11) Mo money mo problems. With more wealth, the situation can become complex.
• (1:37) Tax planning is essential for everyone but for UHNW it can be a huge impact. 
• (2:09) For UHNW, should you set up a foundation, or is a donor-advised fund better?
• (2:58) The estate tax and estate planning allow you to leave more to your second generation or leave more to charity.
• (3:25) If you’re wealth is illiquid, being thoughtful about how to manage that illiquidity is vital. 
• (3:54) Real estate is an illiquid investment that can take days or months to turn into cash.
• (4:15) Determining how you set priorities and who is making decisions is an incredibly important part of the process. This is a complex and unique situation for each family.
• (4:46) There are two categories, technical expertise is the most obvious and involves the expertise and team of experienced and qualified individuals. 
• (5:15) An example of technical expertise: our tax team found a $150,000 missed QBI deduction for a new client because of more eyes and more expertise for the client.
• (6:40) The second category is the transfer of wealth. The family governance concept is crucially important to avoid the “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves” problem where generational wealth is squandered.
• (7:36) The next generation is an afterthought in almost all wealth management. 
• (8:11) Waiting until it’s too late to educate the second generation is a huge error because, by the time they are in their 20s or 30s, they have already established much of their principles and values on money.
• (9:02) Our clients, whether on the field or in the boardroom are the best in the world at what they do. We want that same mindset to bleed into every aspect of life. High performance in every aspect of life maximizes the impact you can make in your life and the legacy you leave behind. 
• (10:42) If multi-generational wealth is important to you, get to the core of how that is going to happen. Technical expertise is a must but there has to be a focus on the transfer of wealth and a stewardship focus for the second generation.
• (11:20) Future episodes will focus on the principles and values to help the generational wealth transfer.

Sarah Garver, the wife of Ranger's catcher Mitch Garver, is passionate about being a wife, mother, and veterinarian. In this episode, Sarah shares why she pursues her career in conjunction with Mitch being a professional baseball player and the benefits her work provides even though she does not technically "need to work."

Given the above, it makes sense why the Garver family phrase is "It's only temporary." Sarah gives a great perspective on why that is their phrase, what it means to them, and how that governs what their family is working towards. Sarah understands that good and bad circumstance are only temporary, and as she states, "you can get through harder times if you understand that it is only temporary."

Sarah's success story is that she has fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian and continued practicing, even after Mitch was traded, after experiencing several cross-country moves and balancing her more challenging job of being a mother. As a veterinarian, Sarah provides her family flexibility, purpose, and application of the knowledge and skillsets she has obtained over many years. Through it all, Sarah affirms that she is a better mother and spouse because of her work.

Sarah's simple yet profound advice to other baseball spouses going through similar circumstances - if you want to pursue a career, do it!

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• (1:59) Garver Family Story
• (2:10) Beginnings of Mitch & Sarah's relationship in high school
• (3:32) Transition to college - while Mitch was trying to figure out where to play baseball, Sarah began pursuing the education for her career as a Vet.
• (4:12) Sarah discusses Mitch being drafted by the Twins in 2013 and her acceptance to grad school at Oregon State 1 week later.
• (6:40) Sarah and Mitch navigated being a team while having different goals.
• (7:48) Sarah discusses the implications of Mitch being a walk-on in college and ultimately signing after his senior year of college, which included a negative experience with an agent relationship.
• (9:29) How important good advice and representation are as families navigate professional baseball.
• (13:07) Sarah discusses how they navigated their marriage on limited time and money while Sarah was a grad student and Mitch was a minor league player.
• (16:09) How they believed it was important to spend the money to see each other - even when they necessarily did not have the money to do so.
• (16:33) Sarah explains how almost everything in this life is, to quote her, "Only Temporary."
• (18:50) Sarah talks about why she is a Veterinarian and the benefits being a Vet provides to their family
• (19:47) Being clear on what you accomplish matters - even while being the wife of a professional athlete.
• (24:07) Flexibility in her career allows her to continue serving animals, pursuing her passion, balancing work, and being a mother.
• (27:37) Sarah discusses the importance of her career and the positive impacts on her being a mother, being a spouse, and being part of the Garver family.
• (32:56) Sarah's advice to others contemplating pursuing a career - is “just do it and figure it out later.”

As a professional athlete, you are presented with all sorts of investment opportunities. Is buying into an IPO a good idea? What do you need to know before investing in a company that has just gone public? Are you compensated for the added fluctuation in price with higher average returns?

Let’s look behind the curtain and understand what risks we are taking that may not be obvious. We will also discuss opportunities to possibly invest in companies before their IPO to increase potential returns. Lastly, and most important, where should you be financially before you even think about investing in start up companies, whether through an IPO or Venture Capital.

Episode Highlights

• 2:02 – Door Dash's stock price was up 80% from it's IPO price on day 1, who made all the money?
• 4:06 – Where is Door Dash’s stock price 1 month later
• 5:30 – How do IPOs do in the long run?
• 6:48 – How to get in before the IPO, going from $22/share to $182/share
• 8:00 – What money should we use to invest in higher risk investments like IPOs
• 10:42 – Who to talk to about investing in an IPO or new venture

Jon Condo, my former teammate and 15-year NFL veteran, now real estate agent joins to talk real estate. With real estate prices notching up to record price increases, and an unhealthy supply of homes for sale, Jon answers common questions for NFL Players. 

As NFL players focused on growing our net worth and creating generational wealth, real estate is a solid part of that equation. We also get a chance to share our own real estate stories and where NFL players can get tripped up.

We also talk about the consistency necessary to last 15 years in the NFL in an unforgivable position of long snapper. You cannot redeem yourself from mistakes, and must be perfect for 10-15 snaps a game. Jon shares what shaped his commitment to professionalism and performance.

If any NFL players have real estate questions, reach out to Jon Condo directly at: Jon@TheKarasGroup.com or me at: zmiller@awmcap.com.

Episode Highlights

• How Jon took a disciplined approach and his path to becoming a long snapper, playing for 15 seasons.
• Condo’s transition to his career after football and what helped him along the way.
• We discuss doing what you’re good at and can consistently win at is a recipe for success in a career after the NFL. Taking care of your business and growing your Net Worth allows for flexibility and freedom to pursue what you are passionate about post-NFL.
• We talk about mailbox money and that doesn’t just mean real estate. Jon shares some of his experiences investing in real estate early in his NFL career and what he has taken from it.
• As a young NFL Player should you buy or rent? Is rent wasted money? 
• Credit score and what impact does it have on getting a mortgage to buy a home.
• When renting out your home, know your downside, risks, and opportunity cost.
• Real estate tax Planning including 1031 exchanges, Section 121 exclusions. Click on the links for more details but the tl;dr is you can avoid taxes or kick the can down the road with some of these strategies. Seek out qualified professionals like us at AWM Capital for specific advice here.
• Always have an exit strategy to realize your profits. This might seem obvious but many people don’t have a plan in real estate investing. 
• What maximizes residential real estate value? What improvements actually can add to the value of the home. 
• Can you time the market in real estate?
• Where does real estate belong in your Net Worth stack?
• My free link for checking Mortgage Rates: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/

There’s been plenty of conversations online, in the media, and in locker rooms about which stocks to buy and why crypto is a sure bet, but how do you sift through the FOMO and educate yourself enough to form your own wealth plan?

One of the most asked questions our team gets is how to actually go about getting educated on investing – how to set learning goals, available resources to tap into, and more – so this week, Brandon and Justin are joined by Super Bowl champ turned advisor Zach Miller to discuss this topic in depth.

Episode Highlights

• The big events happening in the markets (00:59)
• Should you just open a Robinhood account and start trading? (1:49)
• The first question to ask (2:28)
• What is investing? (3:00)
• “Investing is taking your hard earned capital, usually from your human capital, those hours, the effort you've put in on the field, off the field, in the boardroom, starting your company, whatever the case may be, converting that into financial capital and putting it into the markets so the market can use it in its most efficient way to further grow companies and the economy, that is investing” - Justin Dyer
• Day trading vs Investing (3:32)
• “Why are you investing? Are you actually investing for a reason? Are you just trying to get returns? Because if you’re just trying to get returns, you’re going to be taking a lot of risks that maybe you don’t know, and don’t understand.” -Zach Miller (6:25)
• Financial FOMO talk in the locker rooms
• Playing catch at a tailgate vs playing in the NFL (7:02)
• The resources to learn how to invest (7:45)
• Minimizing the FOMO (9:11)
• Investing for athletes (11:06)
• “Why should I expect to have any additional insight into the future of Apple than the other 50 analysts who are covering that individual stock?” -Justin Dyer (12:38)
• Who are you playing against? (13:57)

It sucks to have to watch guys still playing for the elusive Super Bowl Championship but that's out of your control now. As the NFL offseason is underway for many NFL teams here are some smart game planning you can do off the field. In this episode, I cover some topics that can help you become a true professional not just in the NFL but in owning your wealth.

Your biggest driver of your wealth is your human capital. This is your future earnings and they are highly uncertain. Spending the necessary money to increase your future value should be non-negotiable for you. This involves training, treatment, mental performance, and any improvement that can increase your performance.

Now is the time to own your wealth in your financial life. There is time to dedicate to improving your situation and evaluating the financial team you have in place. As an NFLPA Representative, there are many great benefits that you may not be taking advantage of. At least set up and login to your account even just to know it's there (NFLplayerbenefits.com).

Your money is just a tool and I simplify it into four categories: lifestyle, giving, saving, and taxes. No need to overcomplicate it, but crucial for all NFL athletes to understand. We discuss the opportunity of actually doing tax planning the right way and how to protect wealth with proper insurance and estate planning. 

Lastly, tax planning should be given more attention by the people advising NFL players. A CPA that files taxes and is only evaluated in April is not providing the value that you need. I explain what I failed to realize as an NFL player and what actually matters when growing net worth. Tax planning is incredibly valuable and can add huge savings that will be missed if you are not getting it from the best that understands your situation. 

Episode Highlights

• How to approach the offseason (00:06)
• A game plan for taking care of your body (1:01)
• Sharpening your mental game (3:09)
• Owning your wealth (4:02)
• Tax filing vs tax planning – don’t settle for less (5:40)
• Finding a financial team that can handle your entire wealth management and more (6:30)
• How to not get taken advantage of (8:06)
• Should you consider a disability policy? (8:55)
• The importance of estate planning (9:36)
• Is your team doing what’s best for you? (10:22)
• What is human capital? (10:59)

As a professional athlete, you are presented with all sorts of investment opportunities. Is buying into an IPO a good idea? What do you need to know before investing in a company that has just gone public? Are you compensated for the added fluctuation in price with higher average returns?

Let’s look behind the curtain and understand what risks we are taking that may not be obvious. We will also discuss opportunities to possibly invest in companies before their IPO to increase potential returns. Lastly, and most important, where should you be financially before you even think about investing in start up companies, whether through an IPO or Venture Capital.

Episode Highlights

2:02 – Door Dash's stock price was up 80% from it's IPO price on day 1, who made all the money?

4:06 – Where is Door Dash’s stock price 1 month later

5:30 – How do IPOs do in the long run?

6:48 – How to get in before the IPO, going from $22/share to $182/share

8:00 – What money should we use to invest in higher risk investments like IPOs

10:42 – Who to talk to about investing in an IPO or new venture

Athlete CEO with Erik Averill and Brandon Averill

Separators of Success

Guest: Craig Domann

Twitter

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LinkedIn

Website: https://360sportsrep.com/about-360/

Podcast: https://www.promindsetpodcast.com/

3:00

There are seven key ingredients that someone needs to be successful:

• Believe in yourself
• You need passion for what your sport
• There needs to be a motivational factor
• Outstanding habits
• Hard working
• Lifestyle must be consistent with your dream
• Competitive performance 

6:15

What are good habits, and how does someone modify them if they do not have good ones?

11:51

How do you change your identity, and how do you go about changing the way you think about your life?

19:09

The most important thing for a player to decide when retiring is to determine what their passion is after they are done playing professional sports.

36:57

If you did not have 30/40 minutes to have a conversation with someone, say you only had a few minutes to leave an impact, what advice would you give to a young NFL player?

37:29

Craig Dowman: “Be all in. Have no regrets. This is it. Nothing is promised after this season.”

Listen and Subscribe to the Athlete CEO podcast with Brandon and Erik Averill from AWM Capital on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

For more information visit: https://awmcap.com/

Recent headlines are reporting massive drops in tech industry giants like Apple, which dropped last week by a little over 9% - roughly $150 billion of market value, and Tesla is down again this week after a similar fall last week. Have they reached the bottom? As we have said before – there is no crystal ball to determine that.

However, there are investing concepts that are critical to understand to better weather volatile seasons like 2020 has turned out to be that will help you shore up unnecessary risk and capture the gains you deserve. AWM’s Chief Investment Officer Justin Dyer returns this week to discuss this concept with Managing Partner Brandon Averill. 

Key Topics:

• What is concentration risk?
• Putting your eggs in one basket
• Thoughts on the recent tech stock volatility
• One of the most important tools in an investor’s toolbox
• Should I hold these companies that experience big run ups? (For more info, see our recent episode: Tech Stocks Are The Highest Performers – Should You Get In?)
• Relying on the data to inform investment decisions
• The top 10 largest stocks since 1994
  
  Download the resource Brandon referenced from Dimensional Fund Advisors, “Large and In Charge? Giant Firms atop Market Is Nothing New.”

With an estimated $44 billion worth of startups like Snowflake, Unity Software, JFrog, Sumo Logic and Amwell going from private to public right now, is it time to try and strike it rich by investing in the next unicorn company during its initial public investment (IPO) phase? If you only got your investment advice from the mainstream media, you might assume that this is the best way to create massive wealth, but  as you might have guessed, it’s not quite that simple.

The private to public or - IPO - step in the lifecycle of a business is incredibly important. And when companies go public, they often garner massive media coverage. However, is this the best time to invest in a company across the board? The data might surprise you.

In this week’s episode of AWM Insights, Brandon Averill, Managing Partner at AWM Capital, is joined by Justin Dyer, our Chief Investment Officer, to discuss how and when companies typically create the most value. Topics and questions covered include:

• Do IPOs favor the investor? Are they a good investment on their own?
• Why do companies decide to go public?
• What exactly is a unicorn company, and what stage in a company’s lifecycle is generally considered to be the ideal time to invest?
• When does most of the value creation for a company occur?
• What is a direct listing and how is it different from a traditional IPO?
• Are direct listings similar to SPACs? (For more on SPACs see our previous episode HERE)

Resources

Brandon mentioned a Bill Gurley article on going public in 2020, which you can find HERE

On this episode of the Athlete CEO, Erik dives into the debt side of Venture Capital with Founder, Operator, & current Chief Investment Officer of Trinity Capital, Kyle Brown.

Trinity Capital provides smart debt for high growth venture-backed startups. Trinity’s portfolio is packed with successful companies including the likes of Impossible Foods, Fingerprint Digital, Birchbox and Untuckit.

In a candid conversation Kyle shares his experiences ranging from nearly losing everything in 2008 to to leading Trinity through a global pandemic. While sharing how his family, faith and athletic background keep him focused on what matters most. 

Key Topics covered include:

• How should founders be thinking about venture debt?
• Trinity’s due diligence uniquely built by Operators and how they choose who to partner with?
• How venture debt can be the most effective and cheap way to accelerate growth
• How founders can sidestep the risk of dilution in a world of reduced valuations
• How to take advantage of the opportunities the global pandemic has created
• What was it like going through the recession of 2008 as an operator and what lessons did you learn that could be applied to our current situation?
• What have been some of the hardest lessons you’ve learned in your career and how have you grown from them?
• How to avoid the biggest trap that could destroy a partnership
• What advice would you give about partnering in business and leading teams based on what you’ve learned throughout your career?
• How have you juggled working to be excellent and accomplishing great things in business while also being present at home and working to be a great husband and father?
• How Trinity thought through a recent big shift in their business model
• Can you talk about how you think about making an impact and what that means to you?
• How does Kyle approach leading a team? What characteristics does a good leader display?
• Go to resources, habits, and advice for high performance leaders
• How Kyle defines success

Growing a business, serving your community, taking a leap in your career, spending time with friends and family, developing a hobby - often our interests and desires overshadow the simple fact that there are only so many hours in a day. It can be hard to find time to tackle all our goals let alone find balance and mastery in our current commitments.

Becca Van Dyck has proven it can be done.

Becca jumped into her career head first with a 12-year stint at Wieden+Kennedy as Nike’s global account director.  She then moved to Apple as marketing communications executive, working on ad campaigns for the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Macs. Following that, she was named the chief marketing officer at Levi’s where she oversaw the “Go Forth” campaign. Then in 2012, she moved to Facebook where she now works as VP, Product Operations of AR/VR including overseeing Portal from Facebook and Oculus VR. In the midst of all this, she’s also served on the boards of Strava, the New York Times, and more, is a Mom of two girls, and a wife.

In this episode, she describes how she drew courage for each step in her career and seeks to find excellence in all aspects of her life – touching on topics like:

• Her team’s work on Portal from Facebook and Oculus VR and how it’s helping people stay connected amidst a pandemic
• How she considers outside opportunities for maximum impact and growth
• The principles and paradigms she uses to build and hone diverse teams
• How to take bold leaps in your career
• Finding balance amidst career, volunteering, and family
• How her experience playing soccer translates to her business career
• The silver linings found in strange times

In recent weeks, we've seen a lot about how the stock market seems to be rallying, but the economy is doing poorly. As a result, we've received a lot of questions about how there can be a disconnect between those two entities. When the stock market is mentioned, many refer to the S&P 500, which only makes up only 44% of the U.S. economy. Whereas, when we discuss the actual economy, it encompasses all goods and services being produced.  

In this week's episode, Brandon and Erik discuss:

• A definition of both the stock market and the economy
• The information available about each one
• What - if any - information can be utilized between one to inform decisions about the other
• The distinctions between the two including how one can be doing well while the other suffers