Conan Ward is a textbook Wayne guy.
His roots are here. He grew up in Packanack Lake. Graduated from Wayne Valley. Spent years coaching Track and Field there despite finding his calling in finance. He only gave that up when it became obvious that commuting into the city wasn’t conducive to coaching high school sports on that sort of schedule.
But like most Wayne people, he found his way back to town. He opened his own office here in town as a financial advisor...but in this age of transition, he found a new professional home at Kingsview Partners where he could be more independent than his previous company allowed him to be. When Kingsview came calling, he knew that it gave him a pathway to add something that his previous association wouldn’t - becoming a fiduciary.
That’s a level of trust that is golden to a financial advisor. Always acting as a fiduciary is one thing - being one is a statement. For Conan, it’s simply validation of who he’s always been.
And for a small town like Wayne, that trust is something that he doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s the biggest small town I could possibly imagine,” Conan observes. “The camaraderie, the friendships that I grew through coaching and growing up there, and just being part of the community has offered a great deal of value. My experiences there, with people who care to know each other, despite being so spread out, trying to help each other, I just think that it was a great place to grow up.”
It’s that ability to establish yourself independently as part of a larger community that gave Conan and his partner, Suzy Carrington, the reason to open their new office under the Kingsview flag.
“There’s such an opportunity for growth here,” explains Suzy. “We’re able to take a modern approach with our clients and our business. Now we have the ability to build our own network of experts to bring a ‘one stop shop’ experience to what we’re doing for our clients that we couldn’t do before.”
“We’re in a far better position to offer our clients strong wealth management advice independently, rather than just being simply transactional,” adds Conan.
Conan was even able to include something very personal in his new office space. An accomplished photographer, his own photography graces their workspace everywhere. It’s a constant reminder of his world outside the office.
“For me, it’s important that I’m able to keep those connections to clients that have become family to me. In some cases, that’s thirty years of friendships that have come from this,” Suzy says. “We're very appreciative of all the clients that have placed their confidence and trust in us and made this move with us, and that we're looking forward to other clients onboarding and making new friendships with people and relationships.”
To that end, Conan makes sure that he’s not just helping clients build success. He’s also actively helping the next generation of Wayne kids with their futures as well, offering scholarships to local students, including “Student of the Month” athletic scholarships, a callback to his coaching days at Wayne Valley.
Their business stays active in the Wayne Chamber of Commerce, fundraising for local food pantries, and has made donations to many local events and organizations, including the new I’m Possible Cafe (a breakfast spot staffed by special needs people), owned by childhood friend Joe Rude and his wife Paulette. He also extends his help to others in supporting the Essex County 200 Club, which gives assistance to family members of police officers and firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Conan’s fingerprints are all over the community.
This is a man who’s spent a lifetime being the kind of person who makes this small town a place with such a big heart. That red-headed athlete who made his way from Wayne Valley to a Silver Fox wealth manager takes special care of those people and places who have made him what he is today.
“The best lesson I ever had in Wayne was doing yard work in Loretta Looney’s yard. Without knowing it, my friend’s mother taught me the value of hard work and what it can do for someone in your community. It’s a lesson that I’ve carried with me to this day.”
Packanack lessons stay with you.
Conan stays with you, too.
Kingsview Partners is located at 1044 Rt. 23 in Wayne. To catch up with Conan and Suzy there, and see how they can help you shape your future, they can be reached at 973-453-9999, or at cward@kingsview.com.