CLIENT RELATIONS
short pro athlete career ,” says Hawkins , whose clients include the Baltimore Ravens , the Washington Wizards , the Washington Mystics , the Detroit Lions , the Detroit Pistons , the Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers .
“ We teach athletes , ‘ You ’ re not just a professional athlete ; you ’ re the CEO of your own enterprise ,’” says Hawkins , who adds that it ’ s important to give them financial training in their rookie year in order to start their career off right .
The athletes come from backgrounds “ where they don ’ t have exposure to money management . They may have been poor , never driven a nice car , eaten in a nice restaurant or lived in a lavish home before . And here they are at 17 , 18 or 19 with millions of dollars for the first time , but no training to deal with it ,” he says . To establish trust and minimize any
“ We teach athletes , ‘ You ’ re not just a professional athlete ; you ’ re the CEO of your own enterprise .’”
— Drew Hawkins
conflicts of interest , Edyoucore offers no money management or financial product sales . “ General managers hire us to teach a variety of our programs . We may teach six different classes in a season and make sure to give athletes the time to schedule one-on-one meetings with us ,” Hawkins says . “ We aren ’ t coming in in pinstripe suits . We meet players where they are .”
The firm ’ s classes , which are seasonlong , have catchy titles like “ Ballin ’ on a Budget ,” “ Rookie to CEO ,” “ What the FICO ?” One comprehensive investing course is designed to educate players on the importance of long-term investing , market fundamentals and prudent investment vehicles .
“ Many times athletes have no idea what they ’ re invested in or what their ownership stake is ,” Hawkins says .
The “ Family and Friends ” class goes into the particular challenges players face , which can distract them from their best performance and drain their nest eggs . To help them avoid pitfalls , Edyoucore teaches them to set critical spending boundaries .
Another course is “ Drafting and Managing a Winning Advisory Team ,” which teaches players how to perform due diligence on their financial advisors , CPAs , tax attorneys and managers .
“ We take them through a fairly extensive list of questions to ask and teach them fee structures and how to select and manage a winning management team ,” Hawkins says .
That ’ s fundamental to pro athletes ’ financial well-being , since they can be magnets for con artists and swindlers .
In 2021 , former NBA player Chandler Parsons said his financial advisor , a now barred ex-Morgan Stanley broker , had made payments from his account
without his approval . That broker was arrested earlier this year for defrauding Parsons and three other players out of millions of dollars . Parsons also filed a $ 5 million arbitration against Morgan Stanley for the fraud . Drafted in 2011 by the Houston Rockets , Parsons earned a $ 94 million contract from the Memphis Grizzlies , but was sidelined in January 2020 after he was injured in a car wreck , allegedly by a drunk driver .
Michael Lindo , who works with the NBA ’ s Detroit Pistons under the title of “ director of player and family engagement ,” says Edyoucore ’ s classes , coaching and audits are critical to players ’ well-being .
Lindo says that the Pistons believe “ in treating players holistically . It ’ s not just about sports . We don ’ t want players worried or distracted by unnecessary money issues , so getting them the education they need to help them succeed is a no-brainer for us ,” says Lindo , who has been using Edyoucore to teach players financial literacy for two years .
Worrying Expenses
Edyoucore also offers a “ FinFit ” report , which is designed to uncover concerning expenses or activities in an athlete ’ s financial life , so he or she has time to correct the issues or overspending in a timely fashion .
“ We go through and conduct a forensic audit , looking at 11 different areas of their financial life ,” Hawkins says . The firm uses a CFP , a CPA and a certified fraud analyst in each FinFit review .
“ The typical report goes back two years and looks transaction by transaction at spending , credit card use , investments , outside earnings and taxes . It ’ s mind-boggling the things we ’ ve uncovered ,” he says .
In one case , the firm helped an athlete reverse course on aggressive spending that would have bankrupted him . “ He was on target to be out of money in three years , despite making $ 36 million over his lifetime ,” says Hawkins .
The audit also discovered the athlete was 46 % invested in highly speculative alternatives despite being a conservative investor who wanted capital preservation . He and his financial advisor were able to correct the problem , according to Hawkins .
Edyoucore also assists financial advisors who have pro athlete clients . “ We see ourselves as financial coaches , so there are definitely situations where we can be brought in to help educate the athlete about the value of an advisory relationship , financial planning and the investment process , which is our sweet spot ,” Hawkins says .
He adds that many pro athletes , 18- to-20-year-olds earning millions of dollars a year , don ’ t fit advisors ’ typical demographic .
“ Athletes are unique clients . They ’ re not used to being told no . It ’ s tough to tell someone used to being on TV anything , let alone how to spend their money . That ’ s our specialty .”
34 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2023 WWW . FA-MAG . COM