02/22/2024
Article by Matthew Salem, Financial Advisor for Sentinel Asset Management, LLC.
February Orange Chamber Member Spotlight:
Serving Families When They Need It Most: Transference
By Matthew Salem, Financial Advisor for Sentinel Asset Management, LLC.
One of the most challenging experiences anyone can face is the loss of a loved one. It is a change that no one can be truly prepared for. During a challenging time like this, the priority for family members should be healing, but many people find themselves overwhelmed with the formalities and administrative work that accompanies this type of loss. For this month’s member highlight, I’ve had the privilege to share time with Ed Knight of Transference LLC.
“My company works with family members, new executors, and caregivers who just feel overwhelmed with administrative paperwork after the loss of a loved one.” Ed has been doing this type of work since 2002. “I was introduced to this space when I was a financial advisor at a large brokerage firm. I noticed that surviving spouses would walk into my office with boxes filled with paperwork, statements, and no idea where to start or what to do. Naturally, I was only properly equipped to help them with accounts that were held at my firm, but there was still all these leftover, unfinished tasks that were equally as important.”
When asked about his business, Ed stated that he finds great joy in providing this service to families who didn’t know it existed. “This is a new service, and unknown service, and frankly a new industry. Typically, people go to their attorneys for this type of work, and they are charged accordingly. Some things do require an attorney, but most of it doesn’t and I feel it is privilege to help families when they need it most, in a more cost-effective way.”
“I get to be there for families during some of the toughest times they have faced, and I’m able to make it a little bit easier,” said Ed when asked what he likes most about his business. “After the loss of a loved one, there is so much administrative red-tape in terms of what needs to be done, and I get gratification in being there for families when they don’t know where else to go.”
The greatest success stories for Ed are when he can make sure that everything goes smoothly for a family during the process of a loss. “For example, I get a call from a client. Her husband is in hospice, and she is wondering ‘Do I have everything in order?’ We went through things together. And things were not in order. Thankfully, we were able to get beneficiaries and transfer forms corrected before he passed two weeks later. We avoided a real mess in probate. That is what it is all about for me. I get to provide some relief, so families can focus on what’s important—being there for each other.”
Ed Knight of Transference LLC can be reached by phone at (203) 623-6083 or by email at [email protected]
