Cal State Long Beach alumna Alison Fleming found her niche in finance while she was still a student, but it wasn’t through the most typical means.
Fleming was working outside sales for a personnel agency by knocking on doors of businesses when she happened to knock on the door of a Waddell and Reed investment planning office. The manager told her to call him back in three weeks, and she did.
“He had it in his calendar,” she said. “If I called him on the day I said I was going to call him, he’d offer me an opportunity to join Waddell and Reed and train me on how to become a financial adviser.”
Fleming is now the managing principal of Waddell and Reed’s investment planning office that has been based in Torrance since 1997.
“I guess lesson number one is always do what you say you’re going to do, because it can open doors and lead to opportunities,” she said.
Fleming hosted a presentation entitled “Seeking Opportunity in Uncertain Times” as part of CSULB’s Notable Speaker Series Oct. 7. The speech encouraged audience members to view investing as a long-term commitment that requires emotional fortitude through the highs and the inevitable lows.
She began her lecture with her own experiences as she dispensed advice to college students in the audience.
“Don’t let the news freak you out, whether it’s the media or whether it’s the news from the guy next door,” Fleming said.
Fleming said that having a financial planner can help create a stable investment strategy.
“You have a good strategy if you work with somebody who can help you take the emotion out of your strategy and if you look at things from a holistic perspective,” she said.
Alexandro Gracia, a senior political science and recreation & leisure double major, said the speech made him think about his financial standing.
“I wasn’t really into financial planning or mutual funds and bonds, but after coming out to the Speaker Series, it really got me thinking about maybe investing,” he said, “Not right after college, but maybe sooner than later in my lifetime.”
Fleming also discussed financial planning as a career option for students. She contrasted financial planning and financial analysis, pointing out that financial planning was more centered on helping people.
“What I learned over the years is that the profession of being a financial adviser is really one of being a counselor and a financial coach for people,” she said.
She talked about her first credit card as a freshman and the cycle of debt and payments she fell into. Her advice was to avoid debt.
“The funny thing about credit is, when you don’t really need the credit, all kinds of people are offering you credit,” she said. “When you run into financial difficulties, all of a sudden nobody wants to lend you money when you need it. But they encouraged you to spend it!”
Fleming advised students to stay away from credit as much as possible.
“If you need credit to buy a car, take out a loan to buy a car. Mortgages, they’re not bad, but you want to stay away from credit card debt through just buying stuff as much as you can because it really really can creep up on you in a bad sort of way.”
Laura Liu, a graduate student from China studying health care administration, said she was interested in the different perspective she received regarding financial planning in the U.S.
Alberto Garcia, a sophomore accounting and information systems double major, said, “I believe we are always scared of the market. We don’t know what’s going to happen, so we definitely need an adviser to help us decide our future.”
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