With more than 11 years of experience in the financial services industry, Andrew Johnsen holds his Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations as well as his life insurance licenses in multiple states. As a senior portfolio strategist and managing director at Waterloo Capital, Andrew enjoys advising his clients on prudent private investments, debt placements, trust/insurance planning as well as pre and post business sale transaction advisory.
Andrew offers a concierge wealth management experience geared to the modern investor. Drawing from experience in working with Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennial and Gen-Z clients, he possesses the unique skills to construct multigenerational investing strategies and offers a fresh perspective to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
“Building as much alpha as possible for clients is my goal. Keeping them informed and offering a wealth of investment options outside of capital markets is an emphasis for me. Thinking outside the box is so important, and I strive to help educate individuals and families on how to make their money work more efficiently and grow using methods they did not know existed,” Andrew says. “My objective as an advisor is to allow my clients to let their hard-earned money work for them. A client’s job is to enrich themselves through earned assets, and our job is to keep them wealthy.”
Prior to joining Waterloo, Johnsen managed a multi-million-dollar private wealth practice at Merrill Lynch. “I worked at Merrill Lynch from 2014 to 2020, graduating from their three-year PMD (Practice Management Development) training program at the top of my class. What began as a class of nearly 40 ended with only two other people successfully graduating along with myself. It was a great training ground,” Andrew explains.
“When I left Merrill, I was a senior portfolio manager and assistant vice president financial advisor. But I wanted to break away from the broker-dealer world and join the registered investment advisory (RIA) space because I feel it offers a bigger toolkit with more robust options and greater customization over wirehouses. I became an entrepreneur in 2020, co-founding Paragon Private Wealth along with a business partner. The pandemic was not an ideal time for this venture, and I made another move, choosing to join Waterloo Capital in 2022,” he says. “It was all part of the journey! I feel I have landed in a great place in order to help my chosen clientele.”
Andrew attended the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University, where he studied finance and received his bachelor’s degree in economics. “I joined the financial advisory industry in 2014 because it captivated me. There are so many ways that an astute advisor can improve their client’s financial lives,” he says.
“I have an innate ability to simplify complex financial strategies into easily digestible and implementable courses of action, I’m proud to say that my clients are usually impressed with my efficiency, prompt responsiveness, and quality of work. I view myself as a holistic financial consultant/advisor whose knowledge base expands far beyond investments and financial planning. With the power of Waterloo and my own customized approach, we offer a suite of solutions that includes public asset management, comprehensive alternative/private investments, estate planning strategies, business management consulting, advanced planning, family office services, and back-end diligence for private placement deals,” Andrew explains.
“When I tell people about my practice, I highlight that I am unique in the sense that if you can dream it (or if you need a little help with imagination), we can build it from a portfolio perspective. That said, we encourage diversification and creating the best approach for each individual based on their personal needs and desires.”
Andrew emphasizes the importance of the advisory relationship. “Oftentimes, my clients and I become close friends. In fact, developing a personal relationship—built on the solid foundation of professionalism—is a core value of mine, that’s why I only choose to work with people that I actually see myself becoming friends with. A lot of the things I do don’t actually bring financial compensation, but I see them as essential to what I bring to the table. For instance, I helped a client recently with a tax deduction strategy that saved him $400,000,” he says.
Although he was born in Chicago, Andrew considers himself a Texan. “I moved here at the age of 9 after living in five other locations, both domestic and international. My father worked for IBM so we moved number of times,” he says. He now lives happily in the Turtle Creek neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, with his dog, Cooper, who often comes to the Waterloo office with him.
An avid golfer, Andrew will use almost any excuse to play a round with you, and he participates in a number of charity golf events throughout the year. A seasoned traveler, Andrew also enjoys scuba diving, motorsports, tennis, and watching Cowboys and Stars games.
