Steve Trax - Built for the Athlete, by the Athlete. Making an IMPACT.

Steve Trax

Steve Trax, '88, has combined three things in his career: serving people, sports and numbers. Steve attended Old Dominion University where he played basketball while getting his degree in accounting and personal finance as a double major at the Strome College of Business. Realizing that a professional basketball career may not be in his immediate future, Steve found another way to integrate his passion into his full-time career.

Seeing an underserved market of athletes who needed his help, he forged a new path. His goal was to use his experience and understanding of sportspeople and combine that with his financial knowledge and expertise by serving the needs of clients respectfully. This would allow Steve to assist his clients in protecting and preserving everything that they had worked for. Steve founded MTX Wealth Management, a successful registered investment adviser in Reston, VA which serviced high-net-worth entrepreneurs and families and placed a major focus on athletes, sports industry professionals and entertainers.

Last summer, he merged his firm with Cleveland-based MAI Capital. Both companies had a focus on not only elite clientele, but an equal emphasis on exceptional client experience. "The client comes first, second and third." says Steve. The partnership has resulted in the new division, MAI Sports + Entertainment, which Steve will be leading.

In MAI's $8 billion dollar portfolio, sports clients make up $1.8 billion. Despite the large size of the operation (2.5 times the size of MTX's portfolio), Steve is not worried about his team's ability to maintain the client experience. He has crafted a two part service model comprised of an engagement team that works directly with clients using a personal service approach, meeting the specific needs of the athlete, and a separate support team. This model ensures that the client experience is exceptional. The business model helps team members function as not only assets managers, but as life coaches using six verticals: (1) Family Office (e.g., tax planning, estate Planning), (2) Investment Solutions, (3) Business Consulting, (4) Philanthropy Opportunities, (5) Career Transition Counseling (planning for life after the game), and (6) Financial Literacy.

"Our goal is to work with professional athletes and manage their financial lives. I have been in this industry a long time and there are a lot of pretenders serving those clients. We are building an elite service financial platform. The Goal is to have quality over quantity that is unique to the industry." says Steve.

He adds "We have a structure of like-minded and like-hearted team members. It is about the client. We stand behind them and in front of them to protect them when things get difficult. We want to make an IMPACT in their financial lives but also at the personal level. Make an impact in the industry."

"Passion is so important in anything that you do. The passion will make you work hard and if you work hard, you'll be good at it, and if you're good at it, there will be a financial byproduct. It was important for me to be coachable, learn from those in the industry, be a great listener. Timing is also really important. It takes a lot of grind. Patience." Steve Trax.