COVER STORY | YOUNG ADVISORS TO WATCH
Simone Lee Alston, CFP, CRPC
Assistant VP, Wealth Management Advisor / The Lee Casey Group / Columbia, Md.
For Simone Lee Alston, wealth management is more than numbers— it’ s a mission. The 32-year-old assistant vice president and wealth manager at the Lee Casey Group, a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management team that’ s based in Bedminster, N. J., took a bold leap from IT project management to join her mother’ s thriving practice six years ago. Today, the practice manages $ 455 million in client assets— and they’ re just getting started.
A first-generation American, Alston was drawn by the flexible schedule, the potential for high earnings, and, most importantly, the life-changing impact she saw her mother, Judith Lee, make in clients’ lives every day. Now, with two sons of her own— ages 2 and 10— Alston is shaping a next-gen legacy rooted in service, strategy and family.
“ I’ ve seen the financial challenges faced by people I love,” Alston says.“ I chose this career because I want to help others succeed.”
That purpose has paid off. Alston was recognized as the 100,000th
CFP professional— a milestone celebrated with her mother on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where they rang the closing bell in December 2024.
Her focus? Expanding their multi-generational client base, advising her mother’ s longtime clients and their adult children, her own peers and evolving professionals.“ I help them save more of what they earn and invest more of what they save. That’ s real progress,” she says.
Her advice is already inspiring action. One young client just purchased her first home. Another launched a wine business. Others— doctors and dentists— are building practices of their own as a result of her comprehensive wealth planning.
“ Our clients span generations,” Alston explains.“ I love seeing them grow, evolve, and reach their goals.”
She’ s also happy to pay it forward. Alston is passionate about showing others— especially women and people of color— that a career in wealth management is not only possible, but powerful.
“ You have to see it to be it,” she says.“ I really hope I can inspire more people who look like me find this career,” Alston said.
Colin Overweg, CFP
Founder, CEO / Advize Wealth Management / Rochester, Mich.
Seven years ago, at age 25, with less than three years of professional experience under his belt, Colin Overweg launched Advize Wealth Management.“ I had to escape the sales quotas, the clunky technology and the proprietary investment products that were weighing me down at my old firms,” he recalls.
Today, the Rochester, Mich.-based boutique firm serves 70 households and manages roughly $ 45 million in client assets. And the one-man shop is 100 % virtual.
Meeting with clients exclusively online has two primary advantages, Overweg explains. First, he doesn’ t have to maintain a big office or pay a secretary, a cost savings he can pass on to his clients. Second, it allows him to travel extensively with his wife without interfering with his business. Consequently, only about 35 % of his clients are from Michigan; the rest are spread across the country.“ Video just works best for me,” he says.“ I’ m a visual learner, and I feel like this medium allows me to do my absolute best work.”
Overweg, who graduated from Michigan State University in 2015 with a bachelor’ s in finance and earned his CFP two years later, says that his firm was always intended to be virtual. In fact, he started by creating financial-guidance videos on TikTok, and he says the app still brings in a new client almost every month.( In case TikTok ever goes dark, he’ s also active on all other social media platforms.)“ I’ m one of the very few legit social media CFPs,” he chuckles.
Though many of his longtime clients are retirees, most newer clients are millennials or younger who haven’ t yet acquired much wealth. He charges them a flat fee, rather than a percentage of their assets.
Flexibility is key, he says, as is smart technology. Besides the high-end video facilities at his headquarters office, he outsources trade executions, performance reporting and other functions to digital custodians such as Betterment and Altruist, he says. Additional support comes from a“ trusted network” of CPAs, compliance officers, bookkeepers and similar specialized professionals.“ This gives me the agility to run lean while still delivering top-tier service,” he says.
MAY 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 35