This past June, one of our Financial Advisors, Landon Yoshida, celebrated his 9th year working for Apriem. Landon plays an intrical role in our industrial retiree practice, providing advisor services to retirees from Boeing, Exxonmobil, Chevron, and Parker Hannifin.

While recognizing Landon’s successes and contributions to Apriem, it got our team thinking, what is the average tenure at Apriem and what makes our employees want to stay? After doing some research, we found that Apriem’s average tenure is an impressive 9 years! This includes those who have been working at Apriem for over 20 years, all the way down to our new hires who have just reached their 6-month mark.

We sat down with Landon to get his thoughts on the matter, here is what he had to say:

Q: The average tenure of employees is 9 years. What do you think the reason is and why?

“I believe that those on the Apriem team who build long term careers with us do so because we know that greatness cannot be achieved on our own.  To do great things, you need a team to support and encourage your development.  As the saying goes: “One is too small a number to achieve greatness.” Or “Alone I am good, together we are great.” In addition, the firm values my life outside of the office. They care about my about my spouse, children, and more.  When you apply this care and attention to the entire team, the average tenure can go much higher than 9 years!”

Q: What are three things that you love about your job?

“Three things I love about my job are making a difference in our client’s lives, and the effect it has on their families. Making a difference alongside people (our team) who also want to make a difference for our clients and coming to work each day and saying to myself, “I cannot believe this is work!”

Q: What are some benefits of working at Apriem that you are proud of?

“Apriem has allowed me to serve clients in a very personal way. I have been allowed to take my time, pace myself, and build deep, lifelong relationships over the past 9 years. I was asked to give the eulogy at a client’s memorial service earlier this year. While bittersweet, it reminded me of how important our work is, beyond the dollars and cents.”

Q: Talk to us about making a difference in clients’ & their families’ lives. Why is that at the top of your list?

“It is at the top of my list for one key reason. I believe it is reflected in the idea of “team work making the dream work”. If we are not making an impact for our clients’ and their families, we would be falling short of serving ‘the Apriem Way’. We are able to exceed our client’s expectations because of our decision to work together, as a team.”

Doing something that makes a difference:

“My original intention 15 years ago, was to build a service model that would help local blue collar workers transition out of their careers and into retirement. The first group (at the Torrance refinery) I was able to work with had lost their local HR support in Torrance, as it was outsourced to the east coast. My hope was to serve families well, and through word of mouth I could build my clientele. Many of them had so many questions, and the outsourced consultants seemed to create more questions than answers. It was an opportunity to help more people. How fulfilling is that! Over the years I have become ‘family’ to many of our clients. Attended weddings, retirement parties, and even asked to share the eulogy for a client who passed. This is the fruit of our years helping those we serve.”

With people who want to make a difference:

“I learned how extensive the benefits package is when retiring from large corporation such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Boeing. It was clear that one person could not be the ‘expert’ and effectively serve these retirees by themselves. The advisors I admired had built a great team around them. I noticed other financial service firms unwilling to provide personal service. It seems so simple, yet a house-call can make a big difference. Clients were more comfortable in their own homes, had all their important documents handy, and appreciated me coming to them. This type of personal service is not possible without a great team to allow for time spent building deep relationships. At Apriem we take our time with each client, and serve in teams of two advisors to provide adequate coverage and attention.”

At a time when it makes a difference:

“What we offer today is the dream I had 15 years ago. To have a dedicated Financial Planning team who is able to evaluate each financial variable at stake. An investment team who can personally curate portfolios for our clients and be available to answer any questions. When on-boarding new clients, our Account Operations team is gifted at making a great first impression and being an ongoing source of support and encouragement for our clients. All of this is a dream come true for me. I reflect back on the early years of my career and marvel at what has come in the last 16 years. In my 9 years with our Apriem team growth has really accelerated. We set out to serve first, and sell second. The words are so true. Especially when executed with a great team.”

We are very proud to have Landon as an Advisor here at Apriem! Thank you, Landon, for all that you contribute to our team.