Michael Núñez: An Institutional Advisor’s Commitment to Clients and Community

Personal motivation for personalized client service

LPL Financial advisor Michael Núñez has a passion for helping people, and seeing his family struggle to make ends meet growing up is his inspiration to do the best he can for his clients. "I just want to make things a little bit easier for them, because I knew my parents didn't have that," said Núñez. "I want to make sure somebody's helping them with that aspect of life." 

As senior vice president at United Community Bank, Núñez has served the Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, community for over five years. He strongly believes in understanding his clients' specific needs and offering personalized services to meet those needs. This approach goes beyond just providing financial advice; it's about solving problems and making their lives easier.

"The way I approach my clients is to understand the problem we're trying to solve," said Núñez. "Everybody comes to me because they need a solution. Am I able to solve it? Do I have the right tools? Depending on what they need, or the amount of time we have, I can put unique products and services together for each client."

In this video, Núñez shares how being part of a community bank, along with access to the right tools and team of experts at LPL, helps him serve his clients most effectively.

The backing of an institution

Núñez finds being a financial advisor at his long-standing bank branch gives his clients a feeling of stability and security. "Anything they need—they know they have me, they have the support here at the branch. I always make sure they know we're not going anywhere and we're going to be here to help," said Núñez. "The most important factor to delivering a great client experience is to always be available and visible, especially when the markets aren’t doing what we want them to do."

Referrals are an important part of his business as well, and in the tight-knit area in which he works and lives, word-of-mouth recommendations go a long way.

The value of community involvement

Being part of the greater community is important to Núñez and has allowed him to connect with local families and individuals on a deeper level. He, his wife, and their nine-year-old son volunteer at their church. And with he and his son sharing a love of soccer, Núñez not only coaches his son, but other children through their town’s Parks and Recreation Department in his free time.

Núñez also specializes in serving members of his community who normally don’t have access to financial advice. "A lot of our branches are a little outside the metropolitan area, and I deal with a lot of small business owners and farmers," he noted.

"The times I feel like what I do really matters is when I see my clients or their families out in the community," Núñez said. "At church, coaching soccer, just being at the grocery store. They come to me with a big smile and say, 'Hey Michael, how’re you doing? This is my son, my grandson, my father, my mother.' And they introduce and say, 'This is Michael, my financial advisor. He’s been able to help me.' That means a lot."

The right resources to help you and your clients thrive

"There are times I'm not going to be the person who has all the answers," said Núñez. "But whenever a client sees me call LPL and get an answer right away instead of saying, 'I'll get back to you on that,' it’s huge."

"I can spend time on what I do best, and LPL helps me with the rest."

Núñez appreciates the investments LPL has made—and continues to make—in the tools and technology it provides its clients so they can be more efficient and productive. "Technology is a big part of what we do and how we do it. It makes our lives and my job a lot easier."

He added, "My clients' kids and grandkids will become my clients and they’ll have a different set of needs and client expectations, which will obviously touch on technology."

The resources Núñez uses the most are Client Goals, LPL Proposal Tool, and the Model Wealth Portfolio (MWP) platform. Client Goals helps him with financial planning and long-term savings goals for his clients such as education and retirement; LPL Proposal Tool enables him to evaluate the performance of his clients' investments; and MWP assists him with portfolio management. He said, "With MWP, it’s like I'm directly connected to the LPL Research team. I always tell my clients, 'Hey, I'm good at what I do, but LPL has a lot more people than just me.'"

The support Núñez gets from LPL Research is something that’s very significant to him. "I do my own research, but it's important for my clients to understand that it's not just a one-man show. I have a lot of people behind me working with LPL, and anything I need—people who can explain things to me, show me what's good, what's not so good, and what's going to work for each client specifically."

Núñez also uses DocuSign for efficiency and less paperwork, and Account View so his clients have online access to their accounts and sees it as a "one-stop for them to see their account and what LPL has to say about the market."

Núñez relies on the people and resources at LPL to help him serve his clients and meet their financial needs. "Everything feels tailored to me, my business, and my clients," he said. "If my clients are thriving, my business is thriving."

Featured in the video

Michael Núñez, Financial Advisor

• United Community Bank
• 5 years with LPL
• Business Model: Financial Institution