Tom KolefasMBA, CFA®, CFP®
Senior Investment Advisor
Tom’s primary responsibilities include supporting the trading, rebalancing, and reconciliation processes for Modera’s client portfolios. Tom assists in the administration of Modera’s portfolio management system and collaborates and communicates with clients as needed. Tom works with advisors on client portfolio strategy and supports the Investment Committee on projects related to portfolio construction, manager due diligence, and overall investment research.
What has been a particularly rewarding moment in your career?
I have been fortunate enough to have received industry recognition in the past through various industry awards and rankings, but the most rewarding moments are when I’m able to help clients. One moment in my career that stands out happened during the .com boom from 1999-2000. I was working as a portfolio manager at that time and saw an opportunity for my clients to spread some risk out. Many were heavily concentrated in one area of the market (growth, technology, large cap stocks) and there were opportunities for them to allocate to other areas like value stock to spread out their risk. When the market moved, it made a compelling case for the importance of diversification. That feeling of helping to protect what others have worked hard for was very gratifying and continues to fuel me to this day.
What do you enjoy most about working at Modera?
It’s a firm with a clear mission of enhancing client financial outcomes and everyone is focused on and driven by that mission. The people are smart, dedicated and nice, a tough combination to beat. I learn something from every interaction I have.
When you’re not working you’re…?
Swimming in the ocean every chance I get, even into late October. I love sunny weather and being at the beach. It must be my Mediterranean heritage.
Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
I grew up in northern Manhattan, what was once called Washington Heights but in some chic real estate circles, is now called Hudson Heights. It is very near where the original Yankees played (the Highlanders – highest point in Manhattan) near the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. I now live with my wife Eleni and son Aristotle (when he’s home from college) in Closter, NJ, not far from Modera’s Westwood office.