Peter Miralles, financial adviser

What I do

Peter Miralles wants his clients to get rich.

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Karl W. Ritzler / Special

Peter Miralles advises his clients to ‘think globally.’ Typical clients don’t want to manage their money on a day-to-day basis, and that’s where Miralles, who has ‘always been a numbers guy,’ steps in. ‘We help people maintain and grow their wealth,’ the president of Atlanta Wealth Consultants says.

As president of Atlanta Wealth Consultants, Miralles said: “We help people maintain and grow their wealth. We help them increase their income over time and reduce taxes along the way.”

His clients generally have a pretty good head start on wealth. Most, he said, are individuals — generally over age 45 — who are retired or working to retire and have at least $250,000 in investable assets. That usually is in addition to the value of their home.

The company also works with estates and trust accounts, he added.

Miralles, 49, said he likes to work face to face with his clients: “We like to sit down with our clients, talk about where they have been, where they are going and their investment experience. We want to find out what the money will be used for.”

Some clients, for example, might want an active retirement, full of travel and activity, while others might prefer to pass along the bulk of their wealth to their children and grandchildren.

His advice in tough economic times is to “think globally. A corporation doesn’t fly a flag. Its constituent is the shareholder.”

He is telling his clients to invest in global companies and niche firms, “places where they might not consider investing.”

“People in emerging countries want to flip a light switch just like us,” Miralles said, so he is advocating investment in those emerging markets. He also noted that, in many ways, those markets have an advantage in that they don’t have to worry about things such as long-established phone lines. That’s why cellphones dominate the rest of the world. “I’m biased,” he said. “I went to school in Europe [through the studies abroad honors program of the University System of Georgia], and it really changed my life. I could see what’s going on.”

Miralles, who speaks Spanish, has family in Spain and Latin America.

Where Miralles and his company come in is as asset managers.

“I make decisions about where clients should invest their money. Typically, a client doesn’t want to be managing their money” on a day-to-day basis, he said.

People with 401(k) accounts usually have a limited selection of investment options, he pointed out. Too many choices would be confusing for most investors.

And while Miralles has to understand the effects of estate laws, Social Security, insurance and retirement plans, he pointed out that he’s not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.

What got me interested in this

“I’ve always been a numbers guy,” Miralles said. “I started working at 14, and I’ve always had something going.”

He said he tracked the stock market when he was in high school, but when he was working after college and investing himself, he realized he was running his portfolio as well as a broker could.

Soon, he was training to be a broker. After about 20 years as a broker and manager on many levels, he decided to go on his own about a year ago, giving advice to clients who pay management fees rather than commissions on each securities trade.

Best part of my job

“Working with the people, watching multiple generations grow up, watching as they live their dreams,” he said.

What people don’t know about my job

“It’s so hard to create a clientele,” he said. “It doesn’t come overnight. It comes with years of practice in the professions, networking, talking with clients. Most come on recommendations from other clients.”

What keeps me going

“I’m excited about what I’m doing,” he said. “The market is so dynamic.”

It’s like baseball, he said. “There’s a game out there every day. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Preparation needed for this job

You have to be a motivator and a leader, Miralles said.

Brokers, securities dealers and investment advisers are regulated by a number of state and federal agencies.

Miralles said he has a general securities license, called a Series 7, from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a combination of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange.

He’s also a certified financial planner, a designation regulated by the CFP Board of Standards, a certified investment management analyst through the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Charter Life underwriter, who is able to sell insurance.

A bachelor’s degree is required to get many of the certifications, but not a securities license, Miralles said.

He has a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages from Georgia State University and has attended financial planning, broker training and other financial educational programs through Wharton, Oglethorpe University and professional organizations.

Atlanta Wealth Management has four people, all advisers, with one of them managing the office.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.

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