Providing a Wealth of Knowledge

When discussing what drove their interest in a career path in wealth management, University of Delaware seniors Natalie Radebaugh and Giacomo D'Alessandro both said it combined their two passions: finance and helping people.

"I've always been good at math, I'm pretty outgoing and love meeting new people," said Radebaugh, a finance and financial planning and wealth management double major with a minor in trust management. "One meeting can be the difference from (clients) being able to send their kid to college or staying financially afloat after losing a loved one or being able to retire without worrying about every penny."

So that's what drove me to personal finance, the fact that you can have such a big impact on people."

D'Alessandro also emphasized the ability to meet clients directly as something that drew him to the profession.

"After growing up in my father's masonry business, I knew I wanted a people-centric career in finance or banking," said D'Alessandro, also a double major in finance and financial planning and wealth management.

"From my internships in trust and wealth management, to meeting Rich (Jakotowicz, associate instructor of finance and director of the financial planning and wealth management program), I realized the way I could combine my two passions, people and finance, was to become a financial advisor. It felt like a perfect fit."

Radebaugh and D'Alessandro have been gaining real-world experience this semester by working in the new, state-of-the-art Financial Planning Center, located on the fourth floor of the FinTech Innovation Hub, through a partnership with UD's Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics and the Charles Schwab Foundation.