Jeff Thomas, founder/CEO of Arkos Global Advisors, is so passionate about helping clients connect their money with their purpose that he almost jumps out of his desk chair when he talks about generosity.
With his refreshing sense of enthusiasm and wonder, he shares about his unusual journey to scale a God-honoring wealth management company where advisors who share common values collaborate to help families thrive across generations.
How did you start incorporating generosity into your business?
Well, it’s an interesting story, and I’ve even written a book about it, Trading Up: Moving from Success to Significance on Wall Street. Here’s the short version. I didn’t feel called to ministry in terms of working for a church or being a missionary. I felt called to business. But after 10 years and a lot of success in the wealth management industry, I realized I wasn’t happy.
I turned to the Bible for answers and, eventually, I saw the ugly truth about my priorities. Once I deepened my relationship with Christ and reprioritized my life, I realized that I had this big team advising all these people on their money and possessions. I started searching, like literally googling, for a way we could deliver financial advice with biblical advice.
At the time, I thought I was the only person on the planet who cared about biblical wisdom with your possessions. But that’s when Peter Forbes, the first president of NCF Houston, was putting together the Houston team. He invited me to be a part of it, and that’s how I got introduced to the whole generosity community of NCF, Generous Giving, and Kingdom Advisors.
From there, I went on to be mentored by Ron Blue, which led to one of the best moments of my life. In a meeting with Ron, God spoke to me audibly, and I literally heard him say, “I want you to scale what Ron Blue started.” I’ve never heard him speak like that before or since. I was so stunned. I knew this was an assignment, a loving assignment. It just felt so personal. It was this moment that was so beautiful, it’s hard for me to even describe it.
So that’s what led me to start incorporating generosity into my work at Morgan Stanley and then to start my own company, Arkos, to take it much further. And to inspire business owners with practical ways to be generous through their companies, I co-host the Generous Business Owner podcast with Alan Barnhart and Jeff Rutt.
What has been the result?
Investment News recently named Arkos one the fastest-growing RIAs [registered investment advisory] in the nation. How is that possible? Only God. He’s done exactly what he said he would do. I wake up and take instructions from him. He brings all these amazing clients and team members. I feel like I’m watching a movie that I get to play a bit role in. And he will do that for you. If you will get close to him, he will tell you something amazing to do, and you should go do that.
Tell me about a time you helped someone be more generous.
We have a business-owner client who was selling his company. He spent nearly every weekend building wheelchair ramps at homes of people who couldn’t afford them. Before he sold his company, he would partially fund the ramps he worked on. Then, we showed him and his wife how to turn tax dollars into giving dollars by making a gift of his company stock before the sale. After he sold the company, he was able to fund nearly every ramp built in his state by the Christian nonprofit doing the work. (He still does so anonymously).
Have you ever brought up generosity with a client and it went poorly?
Yes, I have a funny story about this. I had a referral from a very generous Christian client, and I just assumed the person he was sending to me was as spiritually mature as he was. That was not true. I went into my whole thing about generosity and all of these things we can do to help him give more. The guy listened, and when I finally finished my little generosity speech, he said, “Well, I’m not exactly where you are on that topic, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.” So, I totally misread that one. But I don’t regret what I shared.
What would you like to share with other advisors?
When we hear our clients’ ideas of generosity, we say, “That sounds amazing. Tell us more.” As advisors, we get to water that seed. So, it’s like the parable of the sower. The world is choking out those ideas, and you can simply try to water it. You don’t have to twist anybody’s arm. You can show them what other givers are doing and water that seed and then be excellent at the planning and servicing of those things.
What’s your favorite Bible verse?
First Timothy 6:17-19 is my favorite. Verse 18 says, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” Here’s my favorite part. “In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so they take hold of the life that is truly life.” What does that mean? I like the way Randy Alcorn explains it: “You cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.”
