Following interior renovations at its 1524 E. Primrose St. suite – one of 27 local offices – Edward D. Jones & Co. LP last month announced Peter Lai as the manager in charge. For Lai, the move to Edward Jones represents the start of a third career. Lai operated a franchise restaurant in Lebanon and an independent eatery in Marshfield for about a decade before selling his businesses in 2001. He then joined Noble & Associates, where he served in a variety of financial roles before leaving as chief financial officer of the $80 million company in 2013 to become a financial adviser. After a year of working for Edward Jones in Republic, Lai was assigned his own office.
Road to E.J. “I have a degree in accounting from Mizzou, and I got my MBA from Drury. So, finance and investments are things that have always fascinated me. I sold my businesses 14 years ago – right after the dot-com bubble. I knew people, like friends and family that had lost a lot of money as a result of it. … When I sold my businesses and had some money in savings, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
I took about a year off and really read and studied and developed personal financial strategies for myself. Along the way, and after working at Noble, I learned that I was not the only one with these needs.”
The Interview “I looked around at all the other financial firms locally, but Edward Jones’ philosophy is very much in line with what I believe. Edward Jones has really built its business around helping individuals and small-business owners. It focuses on quality investments, diversification and investing for the long-term. … As I was going through the interview process, they were interviewing me, but I saw it as I was interviewing them, too – to see if they where who I wanted to work for.”
Business Ownership “Prior to joining Noble, I had 10 years of running my own businesses. … I owned a couple of restaurants. One was in Marshfield. It was an independent. That was my first restaurant. It was called Arcadia. I bought it in 1992 and opened in ’93. I did well and I subsequently bought a franchise: The Western Sizzlin’ franchise in Lebanon. That was in ’97.”
Noble Days “I joined Noble in 2002 as an executive financial assistant. When I got promoted, my title was corporate financial executive. Ultimately, I was nominated to serve on the board, and today I’m still on the board of directors with Noble. I had a really wonderful experience with the Noble family. I did the financial reporting, investment, treasury management, accounting. Certainly, from the money management side, I was a big part of it. … It had a lot to do with why I became a financial adviser. One of my responsibilities was the company’s 401(k) plan. … As sophisticated as the Noble employees are, even they had questions.”
Economic Expectations “The earnings continue to be steady. Companies have been able to position themselves with strong earnings’ growth. I personally anticipate growth at a steady pace despite oil prices. And if you think about oil prices, they really benefit consumers as a whole. We all fill our tanks, and if we save $20 each time, what happens is those dollars will be consumed elsewhere. It’s extra money in everyone’s pocket, and our economy is built on consumption. … Also, after the Great Recession, I think people have been more cautious. They’ve been reducing debt. They’ve been saving money, but now consumer confidence has improved, so I think people should feel a little more comfortable going forward. … However, given that we’ve had two great years in a row – ’13 was a great year for the market and ’14 had another nice gain – it is probably going to be a little more volatile this year. I think January was a good example – 200 points up, 200 points down.”
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
