Craig Ackermann
An interview with Craig Ackermann of
Stewardship Advisory Group, LLC
“If your vision is not aligned with God’s vision you’re not going to have much.”
For over 35 years, Stewardship Advisory Group has helped hundreds of individuals and families discover true financial freedom, by bringing clarity, confidence, and control to every choice they make. They believe timeless biblical principles can guide even the most complex situations, while offering the peace and contentment you were made to enjoy. You’ve worked hard to build your nest egg. Now is the time to steward it well. They’re here to help.
In 2010, Todd and Craig Ackermann joined forces to open the Michigan location of Stewardship Advisory Group. Together they are bringing their own unique style and leadership to financial stewardship and your success.
Getting to know Craig
Tell us a little bit about your childhood.
I was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1964. When I was young we moved around quite a bit because my Dad worked for Firestone. When I was two years old we moved to Africa and lived there for four years. We lived in South Africa for two years and Ghana for two years from 1966 to 1970. I don't remember nearly as much of South Africa as I do of West Africa where we lived in the bush. In West Africa, we lived in a fenced-in compound with maybe 10 other houses and the Firestone plant. Right outside of there was the traditional African village with huts.
When we moved back to the states my father became a pastor. We spent three years in Chicago, then most of my childhood life was spent growing up in Milwaukee, WI. In my college years I went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan. I graduated from there with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. During my college years, my parents moved from Milwaukee to Parchment, MI. After college, I moved back to Milwaukee for a bit, but then moved back to MI in 1989. I met my wife through the church my Dad was pastoring at in Parchment. We got married in 1993. We were planning to wait to have children, but then within less than a year we had our first child. We have two boys and two girls. Our oldest was born in 1994 and the youngest in 2001. So all are fairly close in age. We've lived in the Grand Rapids area ever since we got married. We lived in an apartment and then a house in Kentwood and now we're out in Middleville. It’s a much more quiet setting out in Middleville. We've lived there for five years. All of our children went to Caledonia as school of choice. None of our children are married yet.
So how did you come to your current role as a trusted advisor?
My first job was in sales where I sold copiers for less than a year. Then I worked for a pet supply company as a sales rep. I worked there for a couple of years. When I moved back to West Michigan, my brothers, a couple cousins and I started some small retail Sporting Goods apparel stores. There were as many as 10 owners at one time. At the highest point we had three stores and I was managing all of them. I did that for about 10 years and then decided I needed to make more money than what I was making in the sports stores. My wife and I were starting to have kids and feeling the financial pressure. So I started looking at the different things I could do.
One of my brothers had started at Old Kent and was working for a brokerage firm at that time. He recommended that if I wanted to get into the brokerage business with him, I should probably work for a bank too for a while. So I took a job working for National City for about five years. It was a good place to start. I could tell I really wanted to be more of a planner where at the bank you are more of a salesperson and getting people into certain products. Later I went to Merrill Lynch. At Merrill Lynch I was more of a planner. I was at Merrill Lynch for about five years through the financial crisis of 2008. My brother Todd had thought for a few years about becoming an independent financial planner. I wasn't really at the point in my business where I could do that alone, but Todd was. About nine years ago, he decided to start his own business, and I went with him. That's when we started Stewardship Advisory Group together.
why are you able to succeed in this field?
I think a big part of it is setting goals and striving to achieve them. Knowing what you'd like to do and then sticking with the plan. Sometimes you have to stick with something even if it is not going well, you have to stick with it long enough to get through. I really enjoy what I'm doing. I enjoy meeting people, and I enjoy the numbers. There is a numbers aspect to this business, when someone is building a retirement they can have a lot of numbers plugged into their plan. Also, with investments there's a lot of research and looking at different numbers. Numbers are a big part of what I like. I think you need to have a process that you continue to follow even when things aren't really going that well.
how do you create team as an independent in your Line of work?
It is hard but there are things in my business that I'm not the expert on like estate planning or insurance. I don’t work as closely with those disciplines all the time but when you have a client looking at the whole financial plan, all of those aspects come into play. At different points you're working with a couple of them and obviously things can be done in a lot of different ways so there may be a way that you could do it that you hadn't even thought about. In that aspect you do get a team that you're working with on clients, a team of other trusted advisors. We primarily work with attorneys, tax planners and some insurance agencies. The other thing, it's not exactly on your team, but going out and building relationships kind of makes you feel like you're on a team where you help each other out and make each other better. I like that aspect of things.
what is your role on the team?
We are looked at as the quarterback of that group because we have or know a little bit about all of those areas. Usually a tax planner is focused on the tax aspect and probably aren't looking as much at the investment side. Same goes for the estate planner. They aren't really looking at the whole picture. That's what our job is, to look at the whole picture. We are usually leading that team of advisors. We're seen as the leader of trusted advisors.
what makes you a good trusted advisor?
It’s the way I take the time to build relationships with my clients and other advisors and doing that well. At the same time we have 143 checkpoints that we want to make sure are done. Of those, 20 might be the estate planning attorney, 20 of them might be the CPA. We are the ones who are managing all of that. I guess being on top of the whole process without necessarily knowing everything about all of it. What’s important is that we are all working together. To make this plan be the most effective, we have to have the client's needs in mind.
“It’s the way I take the time to build relationships with my clients and other advisors and doing that well.”
what have you learned about being an advisor the hard way?
When I was at Merrill Lynch I didn't feel quite as much a part of the team. I guess I missed the part of working with a group of people. I like working with other individuals and experts that I can talk to. At Merrill Lynch they didn't really have teams that you worked with at least that wasn't my experience.
what’s going really well for you right now?
I think just getting out and meeting people. My focus used to be on managing the office and supervisory work. About half of my work was doing that and the other half was working with clients. I wasn't really out meeting or building my business. About 90% of my work now is being out and working with clients. The Chamber of Commerce has been a really good place where I feel connected. The hardest thing is probably that I have just started that this past year. I always like to see things happen quicker than they do. It's about building relationships and building trust. People want to see that you're going to be around and that you're not just there to sell them. To me it is important to be somewhat of a peer or someone who is a little more noticeable than just being there. That's why I became an Ambassador at the Chamber.
“It’s about building relationships and building trust. ”
progress or perfection
I think I am progress oriented because I want to see progress. I want things done well, but I don't think I have ever been someone who is a perfectionist or have to have it done a certain way. I remember taking my grandpa's deck and we put it in the wrong spot next to the wrong tree and we had to re-stack all of it and put it next to the right tree. Seeing something like that, where it just really didn't matter, kind of bothered me because it didn’t really make a difference. For some people that's really important and sometimes things need to be done a certain way, but in a case like that I see progress more than perfection. I think that if someone is making progress they are going in the right direction and none of us are perfect anyhow.
greatest influences
My parents would have to be my biggest influences. We had a pretty typical family. We did move around a bit when we were younger. That was always a little bit hard for me. It takes me a little while to develop relationships. I think after I develop them they're usually fairly strong relationships and ones that I stay with. I think that moving around had an effect on me. That's one of the reasons why my family was one of my biggest influences. Most of my friends were short term when I was younger because of the moving around. Most of our family are pretty strong Christian people so a lot of it is seeing the way they live their lives. Most of our friends from when I was growing up were in the church.
favorite business book
I read a fair amount. I guess Raving Fans is one of my favorite books because I feel it is so true. I feel that Chick-Fil-A is a good example of this. They are great to their customers and despite being closed on Sundays their stores make more money than any other restaurant around. They have raving fans and people love Chick-fil-A. I think that is the greatest thing ever. I don't have to go there every time I go out, but I think it is so true that the best way of building your business is to treat your clients well so they will tell other people.
what is your method of creating raving fans?
I think when people don't have peace about their finances or comfort that it’s going to be all right, helping them see what can be done and that the money God has given them is enough for what they’re doing. If your vision is not aligned with God's Vision you're not going to have much. If you're following God's Vision it's going to work out. It doesn't matter what the details are, God's going to take care of you. I think helping people get a vision and develop that vision is something we're trying to do more with our Roadmap process. It helps them see what is really important to them about money. The real question is, Are you on track to meet your goals? If you are on track, then most people will be at peace and experience financial freedom.
“When people don’t have peace about their finances or comfort that this is going to be all right, helping them see what can be done”
what do you think you’re known for?
I haven't asked anyone that but hopefully just for someone who is diligent and on top of things. Someone who knows his business and is knowledgeable. Someone who is compassionate, hard-working.
what are you not known for but wish you were?
I guess if I could choose something I wanted everyone to know but they didn't, I think I would want them to know that I'm on fire for God. Part of it's just me getting comfortable with talking about that side of things. Growing up this wasn't something that I talked to many people about. I mean everyone knew that my dad was a pastor, but I don't know why it wasn't that easy for me to talk about that.
“I would want them to know that I’m on fire for God.”
favorite quote
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
hobbies
I don't know if it's a hobby but I like to play golf a lot. I really enjoy when I can get away somewhere more secluded and golf. Sometimes I go out in the summer just myself. It’s a nice way to get away, especially early in the morning. I also like to be on the water a lot. My father-in-law has a place on Gun Lake and we are out there quite a bit. I like to travel, like going down to Florida.
Soapbox
soapbox topic
If I had a soapbox topic, I think it would be treating people and the environment we're in with respect. Just because someone else is different than you, not so much whether they're right or wrong, there's no reason not to treat someone with kindness. Even if they have different views or a different lifestyle, people should be nicer and more tolerant of people being different. I'm not saying it's okay if they are living a life against God's word but being more tolerant. I think this happens a lot in schools. I think there are also a lot of adults who see someone different and won't treat them well. I think of people who are down on themselves and need more of a helping hand. They need someone to say things that are kind. I try to tell people that they have done a good job or thank you for the good service, thank you for taking care of us. If someone has done a really good job maybe giving them an extra tip. Helping people out when you can. I try to do that. I remember one time when I was downtown working, there was a car stuck and there was a woman who didn’t know what to do. I helped her push her car under the bridge and into a parking lot. Sure, I was in my work clothes and it wasn't the best time for me to do that, but I like to help people out. We're all in such a hurry. People need to slow down a little. You don't need to do a hundred things during your day. You need to slow down and eliminate some things from your schedule instead of adding more all the time. Because in the end I don't think most people get to the end of their life and wish they had done more at work. They probably think “I wish I would have spent more time doing things that mattered”.
“I wish I would have spent more time doing things that mattered.”
To learn more about Craig Ackermann and Stewardship Advisory Group, check out their website @ http://www.stewardshipadvisorymi.com/
Or
To meet Craig personally, join him for one of our BLConnect events
Craig Ackermann is an Investment Advisor Representative offering Financial Planning and Investment Advisory services through Stewardship Advisory Group LLC; an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. *Legacy Coaching services are offered through Stewardship Legacy Coaching, LLC. Securities are offered through United Planners Financial Services, a Limited Partnership, Member FINRA, SIPC. – Stewardship Advisory Group, LLC and Stewardship Legacy Coaching, LLC are not affiliated with United Planners Financial Services.