Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we planned. Sometimes it turns out better.
Cory Fosdyck grew up in Illinois, a lifelong basketball enthusiast. He earned a basketball scholarship that covered his education at Western Illinois University, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA.
Cory served as captain of Western Illinois’ basketball team and racked up honors during his time there. He held the school record for the most games played in a career and received Academic All-Conference honors for four consecutive years.
Playing professional basketball was the logical next step for Cory … but it wasn’t in the cards. Instead he pursued a dream job working with the Atlanta Hawks, an NBA team. He prepared to move to Georgia and begin his next chapter … when that dream fell through as well.
Feeling dejected, Cory instead moved to Destin and took a pause to figure out a new career. While basketball was his main passion, he was also very interested in the world of finance. Life opened a door, and Cory was offered a job at UBS PaineWebber as a financial advisor—a career move that would prove fruitful for years to come.
This year Cory helped launch Krueger, Fosdyck, Brown, McCall & Associates, a private wealth management firm headquartered in Destin but with clients nationwide. As managing partner, he works with high-net-worth families as their wealth management advisor. For the past four years, Forbes has ranked Cory as a Best-in-State Wealth Advisor for Florida, and the firm already has $1.1 billion in assets.
While enjoying this success story in his professional life, Cory’s passion for basketball never waned. So a few years ago, he decided to do something about it.
In 2021 Cory became the head coach of the Destin Middle School basketball team, and the next year he founded the Destin Basketball Association in an effort to promote the sport with local fans. His love for the game stems from the lasting impact it made on him.
“The Western Illinois University basketball program was pivotal in my education, professional development and maturity as a man. It shaped who I am today,” says Cory, who continues to support his college team financially.
He values the life lessons he learned from competition: How to be a good teammate. How to push through adversity. How to have confidence to achieve long-term success. These insights have translated into a successful career for Cory, and he aims to give back to the sport that has given him so much.
Under his direction, Krueger, Fosdyck, Brown, McCall & Associates is a sponsor of the Emerald Coast Classic—an annual college basketball tournament held Thanksgiving week at Northwest Florida State College. This year’s tournament includes teams from LSU, Drake and Georgia Tech.
“We are so blessed to have this caliber of college basketball right here in our backyard,” says Cory. “I hope the local business community and basketball fans in the area will continue to support this great event for many years to come.”
An active volunteer in the community, he is also the father of five children with his wife, Hillary Erdmann. Whether he’s uniting a team of seasoned financial professionals in the boardroom or a team of basketball players on the court, Cory knows that carrying forward the lessons of the game is his life’s work.
“I hope the local business community and basketball fans in the area will continue to support this great event for many years to come.”