For Matt Geer, it’s always been about helping people. It’s the reason he was drawn to the Coast Guard’s mission. It’s the reason he has become a civic leader, and is so involved with his community. It’s also why he started his financial advising firm.
It wasn’t a direct route to get to where he is now. After graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in 1999, Matt Geer spent 5 years stationed in Cape May, NJ. It was while he was in Cape May he also married his wife, Gretchen, whom he’d met in high school, but didn’t begin dating until after college. In 2004, he decided to get out of the Coast Guard, and he began a new career endeavor as an intern at Morgan Stanley in Elmira, NY.
Across the street from where he was interning was a trust company with a job opening, and Matt saw a new opportunity. He walked over and asked for an interview, and with that, landed a job at a bank back in his (and his wife’s!) home town of Troy, PA, where he gained financial experience for over another decade.
During those years, Matt’s guidance navigated the many restrictions placed on larger banks that forced those institutions to be more conservative, at times avoiding decisions that might be in the client’s best interest. Matt wanted to provide better support and advice to his clients, so he decided to pursue the freedom of doing his own thing, and opened up his own business doing financial advising.
Harvest Rock Advisors is a boutique shop…where instead of trying to serve over 3000 clients, he can focus on fewer than 200. He enjoys having a small operation where he can give individuals a very personalized financial plan.
With his certifications, he can be a broker and is licensed to give financial advice. He is connected with other financial advisors through his firm, and is able to work with people living in multiple states (currently as many as 15).
The military teaches you is to make the most of any place you call home. Matt has done just that. He spends his time coaching track and field and playing in the town marching band, where he plays “anything and everything.” He’s currently the President of the Troy High School Foundation, which gives grants to teachers and scholarships to students. Matt is also the Treasurer of Kids Can’t Fight Cancer Alone. Which raises money for families with children who have pediatric cancer. Gifts range from gift cards, help with treatment costs, celebrating birthdays, and bereavement.
One of the reasons Matt joined the Coast Guard over other services was to be able to help people. He’s still finding ways to do that, whether it’s through his community or by helping clients through potentially difficult financial situations.
“In the Coast Guard, the mission was saving people. and there is no cooler feeling than helping someone who is in trouble.”