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March 31, 2015
We wish Steve a long and happy retirement and we are sad to see him go. Along with Bob Hochstadt and I, Steve was one of the three founding partners of GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. He was a trailblazer within the field of financial planning. CPA’s are often thought to be risk averse and lacking innovation, but Steve’s career certainly did not fit this stereotype. Perhaps his background in music helped him see the world a little differently.
As a kid Steve played clarinet and saxophone in his dad’s band – the Nate Levey Band. Many older people today remember Steve playing at weddings and bar mitzvahs. In college Steve attended the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver for three years before switching to the business school to study accounting. I once asked him why he majored in accounting. He replied that growing up with a musical father he was clueless about business. As a senior in a rush to change his major, he glanced at the business school catalogue and chose Accounting because it started with “A” and was the first choice on the alphabetical list! He saw too many starving musicians and knew he somehow wanted a career in business.
Even as Steve built his accounting career, Steve continued to work as a professional musician throughout his 20’s. He sometimes filled in with the symphony or even with popular bands passing through town. Steve’s decision to become a CPA proved a sound career choice, but he often joked he was a disappointment to his musically oriented parents. He gave his mother a T-shirt with the caption “Don’t Tell My Mom I’m a CPA, She Thinks I Play Piano in a Bordello”.
Along with his outstanding musical ability Steve also had a tremendous memory, two skills he combined to win cash and prizes on the hit 1980’s game show “Name That Tune”. Clients often marveled at Steve’s ability to recall details of their personal and financial lives. A feat made even more amazing when one beheld the mountains of paper in his disheveled office. Steve turned his less than stellar organizational skills into an advantage by constantly searching for improved technology tools to help him and his financial planning practice become more efficient and impactful. For 25 years Steve wrote articles and lectured at conferences about the latest technology trends.
In the 1980’s Steve Levey and Bob Hochstadt pioneered a relatively new field within the accounting profession: Financial Planning. Steve’s positive attitude toward innovation and technology paid off as he and Bob developed many of the financial planning techniques we still use today. For many years Steve was a national member of the Personal Financial Planning Committee of the AICPA (American Institute for Certified Public Accountants). When the Colorado Society of CPA’s developed the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation he was one of the first to earn the PFS credential. Shortly thereafter the AICPA adopted Colorado’s program on a national basis.
A designation only available to CPA financial planners, a PFS “allows CPAs to gain and demonstrate competence and confidence in providing estate, tax, retirement, risk management and/or investment planning advice to individuals, families and business owners through experience, education, examination and a resulting credential (www.aicpa.org).” Ultimately Steve twice served as the National Chairperson for the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Conference. Steve encouraged Bob to earn a PFS several years later, and today our colleagues Jerry Kaiser, Angie Kennedy and Sebrina Ivey also hold this prestigious designation.
In 1995 the AICPA changed the rules governing the accounting profession. Prior to this time CPA’s were prohibited from providing investment advice. Steve and Bob referred their clients to other financial services firms, which often meant working with commissioned brokers. Brokers often placed their compensation needs ahead of their clients’ financial interests, disillusioning Steve and Bob with the brokerage industry. Fortunately the new industry of Registered Investment Advisors was rapidly rising as an alternative to traditional “retail” financial services firms. In 1996 Steve and Bob established GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. to take advantage of the regulatory shift. They soon discovered, however, that investment management required additional expertise beyond their own skills in tax and financial planning.
Sensing opportunity to build a “Wealth Management” firm, I also paid careful attention to the changing rules governing the CPA profession. By combining a CPA’s strong reputation for objectivity, as well as tax advice and estate planning, I believed that with the right kind of CPA partner we could create a much more holistic and comprehensive service offering. I was aware of “Family Offices” that catered to extremely wealthy families combining their financial advice needs under a single roof. My goal was to partner with CPA’s to create a “Family Office for the Millionaire Next Door.”
One day I was reading an article in Forbes magazine that featured extensive comments from Steve Levey. I had never met Steve, but I noticed he worked for the firm Gelfond, Hochstadt Pangburn, P.C. I was aware of GHP because Bob Hochstadt was a family friend. I immediately asked my father to reacquaint me with Bob. Bob brought Steve to our first meeting and it was immediately apparent that we all shared a common vision. My background in the asset management industry meshed well with their financial planning practices.
After a year of discussions and planning, I joined GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. on January 1, 1999 as President and Chief Investment Officer. Steve and Bob allowed me the freedom to manage the firm according to our shared vision and we have had very little conflict in our 16 years of partnership. From very small beginnings in 1999, today we exceed $900 million in assets under management with a strong team of 14 highly skilled employees. Our relationship with Crowe GHP Horwath, P.C. (the new name for the old Gelfond, Hochstadt Pangburn, P.C.) remains strong and has grown to include other accounting firms such as KKB, P.C. and The Schaffer Group, P.C.
Every summer we hold a strategic planning retreat and Steve is always an active and creative participant in our discussions. So we were all surprised in June 2013 when Steve received a text message during our retreat and bolted from the meeting in mid-sentence. The next day we learned Steve had received a devastating diagnosis: advanced lung and brain cancer. Steve’s doctors immediately removed his larger brain tumors and subjected him to radiation treatment. Fortunately Steve was a candidate for new genetic therapies which have thus far proved very successful at controlling his cancer. Although Steve cannot work any longer, he is otherwise doing quite well. He celebrated his 63rd birthday on March 30th and is approaching the second anniversary of his diagnosis.
In a few months Steve and Cyndi are moving to San Diego to be closer to their son Dan who was recently married. They often visit their other son Andy, his wife Elizabeth, and their granddaughter Austen in Montreal. Bob and I are sad to end our many years of successful partnership with Steve, but he continues to live a very active and happy life in retirement. We hope this continues for many years to come.
Meanwhile, the precedents Steve helped establish live on in GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. Financial Planning remains a core discipline with an orientation toward cutting edge services, advice and technology. The relationships Steve and Bob nurtured with their clients will always remain a core value of ours. We will turn to Steve for informal advice and consultations as long as he is willing and able. I thank Steve for our 16 years of partnership and friendship and I hope we will still reminisce about the “good old days” 16 years from now.
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