Petra Peters Founder’s Message:
When I think of the most rewarding part of my professional life as an investment advisor, it is not the size of the business I built, but the trust and gratitude from my clients.
Many years ago, I met an artist at one of her solo exhibitions in New York, and I ended up buying one of her paintings. Years later, we reconnected through a common friend who had recommended me as an advisor. My client had bought two loft apartments in the 1970s; her friends helped her with the down payment, and she repaid them with her art. When we met, she had just sold one of her apartments and was looking for advice on how to best invest the proceeds to create a nest egg for her retirement. We took the time to get to know one another. I wanted to make sure that she felt confident to understand the risks and rewards of investing and make the right decisions. With the help of a lawyer friend, she wrote her will and set up a trust for her two heirs, unrelated to one another and to her, whom she had taken under her wings at a very early age. After everything was said and done, she was at ease and free to pursue her life as an artist and art professor. We became close friends over the years. She once told me that my work was also a form of art. Every month she looks at her statement, she feels joy and relief of not having to worry about her financial wellbeing. Stories like hers are highlights and true meaning of my profession. After all, life is all about the people we care for.
Daniel Baumgartner Founder’s Message:
Growing up bilingual in an honest, hardworking family that emigrated to the United States from Switzerland, I learned the value of hard work at a young age. We had no connection to the financial industry, and it wasn’t until I entered college that my life’s passion, international banking and portfolio management, would come into sharper focus. With strong math and analytics skills, as well as a second language, I felt this career would offer me an interesting life, spanning both sides of the Atlantic.
After a few years of working in finance in both New York and Zurich, I had the opportunity to work in asset management at Commerzbank Capital Markets Corp., which would change my life. It was there that I learned, hands-on, about the financial advisory industry and the importance of serving clients on a very personal level, working one-on-one with them and offering individualized strategies rather than cookie-cutter solutions. Years later, in 1998, our team would go on to establish Terra Nova Asset Management.
Today I’m focused on offering asset management services to domestic and international high-net-worth individuals and families. My day includes not only managing assets and researching new investment ideas, but also developing strategies that raise the chances of accomplishing our clients’ financial objectives. I enjoy building personal and long-lasting relationships and love going to work every day, as I know my clients can count on me. I am lucky to be able to do what I love as a career, to continue to learn, and to connect with so many intelligent and fascinating people from different walks of life.
More About Me
On a personal note, I live with my wife in northwestern New Jersey and enjoy hiking, photography, history, golfing (just started a couple of years ago), and baking bread!