Richard Sincere founded Sincere & Co. in 1997, building on a career in the financial services industry that began in 1975.

After graduating with a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1975, Richard accepted an entry-level position with Ryan Insurance Group (now AON Corporation). In 1979 he returned to school and in December 1982 earned a Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management (a program that focused heavily on packaged goods), followed by a year and a half in product management at Wilson Sporting Goods, at that time a division of Pepsi Corporation.

Richard decided to return to financial services in 1984, beginning a ten-year span with Citibank Chicago, starting in the marketing department. He moved from marketing into branch management, managing a retail bank branch in upscale Northbrook, Illinois for a year and a half, then spent two years in the bank’s broker-dealer division as President of Chicago’s Citicorp Investment Services. He was subsequently promoted to Regional Vice President, managing 150 brokers in Illinois, Washington DC, California, Florida, and Nevada.

Richard was recruited in 1994 by National Westminster Bank of New York as a Senior Vice President, managing over 150 brokers and marketing personnel throughout New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. He left NatWest in 1995 and joined Fidelity Investments as Senior Vice President of Fidelity Investment Advisor Group, growing the marketing staff from 4 to more than 27 professionals, and raising assets from $3B to over $22B.

During his career at Fidelity Investments, Richard worked exclusively with independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and admired their commitment to objectivity, particularly those fee advisors compensated solely by their high net worth clients.

In the late 1990s, Richard recognized that RIAs were not receiving the attention of large financial management institutions. His goal was to connect the two groups with one another, and he left Fidelity Investments to pursue this through his own business.

In 1997, Richard Sincere launched Sincere & Co., LLC, focusing exclusively on independent fee advisors. As the third generation in his family to work in the investment industry (his grandfather founded Sincere & Company, a Chicago brokerage firm, which his father also worked for), Richard also works to ensure that high net worth individuals receive quality advice.

From its inception, Sincere & Co. has sought out well-respected yet relatively unknown firms to introduce to the independent fee advisor community. Sincere & Co.’s compensation is similar to that of fee advisors – the company is paid by its institutional clients based on assets raised. To date, Sincere & Co. has raised in excess of $5B for its fund clients.

In addition to his professional career, Richard has always had a strong interest in working with not-for-profit charities. Early in his career he served on the cabinet of the United Way of Chicago and the board of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago. He currently serves on the International Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University and the board of the Recannati Business School of Tel Aviv University. He also works with Kismet Foundation in Jackson, NH, a not-for-profit providing at-risk kids in New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts with an opportunity to learn rock climbing, team building, and leadership skills for a week during the summer.

From 1997 through 2006, Richard traveled extensively. At the end of 2006, he felt “burned out” and wanted to spend more time at home with his family. In 2007, Richard took a sabbatical from the business to re-energize while also volunteering as head of development for the board of a not-for-profit group to raise awareness and funding for Tel Aviv University. Richard spent his junior year abroad from 1973-1974 at Tel Aviv University with a full academic scholarship and wanted to give back to the university.

Returning his focus to the business in the summer of 2007, Richard began seeking out new clients to introduce to advisors.

Richard writes a bi-monthly column for NAPFA Advisor, a publication of the National Association of Professional Financial Advisors and also serves on two financial publications advisory boards, the Journal of Wealth Management and Inside Money (inside-money.org). In addition, he serves on the boards of F-Squared and the Wealthbridge Fund (a wholly-owned subsidiary of R.W. Rogé & Company).

Richard is a registered representative and holds Series 7, 24, 63, and 65 licenses. He is a shareholder of National Advisor Trust Company (NATC) and has worked with them and other financial boards (including AICPA, NAPFA and FPA) on strategic planning. Richard has spoken at conferences for Jack White, NAPFA, TD Ameritrade, AICPA, FPA, and ICI on topics ranging from strategic marketing to better understanding the advisor market.