ONE-ON-ONE
Christopher Prien鈥檚 business is money. His passion is community.
Sometimes, it鈥檚 like social work. Other times, it feels like marriage counseling. At particularly sad times, it鈥檚 all about comforting the bereaved.
Christopher Prien is neither a psychologist nor a counselor nor a funeral home director, but his job entails all of the above in his role as financial adviser.
Prien is founder and CEO of WaterRock Wealth Management, an eight-year-old firm headquartered in Albuquerque with more than 200 clients in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and various other states.
Prien for many years was on the 鈥渋nstitutional side鈥� of investment management, but eventually started his own firm to focus on individuals, using a 鈥渉olistic approach rather than just a product pitch.鈥�
鈥淢y thing was that I don鈥檛 need to sell a commissionable product just to generate revenue if that鈥檚 not right for the client,鈥� Prien says.
He doesn鈥檛 require that his clients invest a minimum amount, allowing him to help a wider range of people, regardless of their income or assets.
鈥淎ll walks of life need financial planning, financial literacy, financial education and protecting of their estates,鈥� Prien says.
Prien also seeks to help those who have no money, particularly when it comes to his work with nonprofits like TenderLove Community Center. TenderLove offers job training, transitional housing and other support for people who are homeless, victims of domestic violence or who are suffering from other issues like incarceration or immigration.
Prien recently became board chair of TenderLove and is also a YMCA board member. In addition, he and WaterRock support six other nonprofits.
鈥淢y interest is in giving back to the community,鈥� he says.
How do you deal with market uncertainty and the effect on your clients?
There鈥檚 always risk involved in investing. We base our portfolios on our clients鈥� risk tolerance. We try to just drown out the noise, which is volatility, which is created by geopolitical risk, inflation, tariffs, whatever the case may be. All that stuff is difficult for clients to understand.
How do you help them cope?
They get off work and they see that the market was down 2% today. They call and ask, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on?鈥� Because we鈥檙e students of the industry, we鈥檙e paying attention to all this. Those are difficult times, because you have to field all these calls, and you have to explain to your clients and kind of walk them off the ledge. But we鈥檙e in this every day; that鈥檚 what we do, whereas, for example, the guy who鈥檚 doing HVAC, that鈥檚 what he does and he knows that. So I get where they (clients) are coming from because I don鈥檛 know HVAC. So if my air conditioning isn鈥檛 working, I鈥檓 feeling, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on?鈥�
Is there a client you鈥檙e particularly proud of helping?
It would be a young single mom with a newborn. She wanted to start a savings plan for the baby, so she (sets aside) $25 a month to help save for her future. As she progresses through her career, then we鈥檒l implement some life insurance to make sure that that baby is protected. She鈥檚 going to have a 401K plan, and she鈥檒l need help with that planning. She may want to do other things like buy a house 鈥� things of that nature. So we鈥檒l help to guide that client through all stages of her life.
What鈥檚 been a difficult time in your career?
I started on the retail side of the business in 2008, and it was not a very good time to do that. So a lot of it was talking. (Clients) were saying, 鈥淵ou know, I don鈥檛 want to get back into the market.鈥� And that鈥檚 usually the best time to get into the market, is when everything鈥檚 down.
How did you get involved with TenderLove?
My wife (Trish Prien) was really the start of all our activities with TenderLove. Debbie (Johnson), the founder/CEO of TenderLove, was looking for a house. Debbie bought the house through Trish, my wife, and they talked about TenderLove. My wife gravitated toward that and said, 鈥淎wesome, how do we get involved?鈥� We started with donations and then we attended the annual galas, so we helped with the fundraising a little bit in that regard. And then just slowly, it started to progress.
What do you do in your free time?
I don鈥檛 have much free time because I volunteer a lot. I am on our safety team at church, and my wife works in the children鈥檚 ministry.
What part of the business do you like best?
Talking to people and working on portfolios. I like doing research on companies. That鈥檚 a big part of what we do, as far as our asset management side of it, with custom portfolios that we build for our clients. There鈥檚 a lot of research when you鈥檙e buying and selling a stock, and that鈥檚 exciting. It鈥檚 a fast-paced business.
Why is TenderLove special to you?
Homelessness is a big issue here. Nationwide, too. There are other organizations that I love, like New Mexico Dream Center. I was on the board there years ago. They help addicted and trafficked youth. There鈥檚 so many people out there that complain about homelessness. Well, go do something about it instead of sitting on the sidelines. We want to be involved in something like this. Community involvement is a high priority personally and professionally.
Ellen Marks, a former Journal editor, writes One-on-One profiles and Scam Watch. You can reach her at emarks@abqjournal.com.
