Today we’d like to introduce you to Earl Yaokasin.
Hi Earl, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in the Philippines, where my desire to make money kicked in early. In first grade, I’d scour the school for soda bottles, turning them in for recycling credits to treat myself to a delicious Filipino barbecue pork skewer. By second grade, I was selling colorful, snappable bracelets to classmates.
My knack for numbers shone through in seventh grade when my team clinched a silver medal in a national math competition. As I grew older, I expanded my ventures, selling music CDs, cell phones, concert tickets, and even fireworks, always looking for the next opportunity. But selling stuff wasn’t really my passion.
Everything changed one day in college when I flipped on the CNBC channel and watched a stock price dance up and down. It seemed like it was like a game, and I love games, so at that moment I knew I wanted to make investing my life’s work. I dove into books, tested countless strategies, and eventually fell in love with Warren Buffett’s philosophy of value investing.
As a junior in college, I interned at a company tied to the Philippine Stock Exchange, but success there hinged more on who you knew than what you knew. Frustrated, I made a bold move in 2001, migrating to the U.S. with a hope to one day guide others in investing wisely. Despite graduating from the Philippines’ top business school with the most difficult major and earning Dean’s List honors all my senior year, those accolades meant little here—I had to start from scratch.
My first job was a minimum-wage data entry role at a Nordstrom warehouse. It was mind-numbingly boring, but I turned it into a game, where I tried to beat my own records daily. My manager was stunned by my productivity, which far outpaced my peers. From there, I juggled two jobs—one at a real estate appraisal company and the other as a credit card collector at Bank of America—driving three hours a day from Rancho Cucamonga to Pomona, then Pasadena, and back, often surviving on a $5 Subway foot-long split between lunch and dinner.
At Bank of America, I noticed coworkers using threats and lies to collect payments. I chose kindness instead, and customers responded—my approach made me one of the top collectors in my group. After a year of relentless effort, I landed a financial advisor role at American Express. To my shock, it was all about sales and commissions, with little training on managing money responsibly. Disillusioned, I shifted to Banc of America Investments as a registered sales assistant, learning from the Inland Empire’s top advisors.
After a while, the advisors I worked with eventually trusted me with stock picks, and my recommendations outperformed the company’s in-house team.
I loved my time there with a supportive boss and great colleagues, but my ultimate goal—becoming an investment manager—never faded. That drove me to tackle the very lengthy and difficult Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Passing Level 1 opened a door to working at the Capital Group. Living in West Covina, I endured a three-to-four-hour daily commute to West Los Angeles, many times a lot worse than my dual-job days. I made it productive however, listening to CFA Level 2 and 3 study guides on my CD player.
At the Capital Group, I reviewed analyst reports, joined investment calls, and helped shaped portfolios based on managers’ insights. Yet, compliance rules handcuffed me from trading my preferred stocks for my personal portfolio. After building a solid nest egg and building a model portfolio that achieved returns that outperformed the S&P 500 by over 10% on average for about a 7-year period, I founded my own investment firm, WealthArch Investment Services, in 2014.
Today, I’m profoundly grateful for my clients’ trust and support, which have turned my dream into reality.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road to where I am today has been far from smooth, marked by significant struggles that shaped my journey.
It began in college with sleepless nights and countless hours in the library, laying the foundation for my financial expertise. When I arrived in the U.S. in 2001, financial survival was my priority. I juggled two jobs, waking at 5:30 AM to drive from Rancho Cucamonga to Pomona for my first shift (7:00 AM to 4:30 PM), then to Pasadena until 9:00 PM. Living frugally—capping most meals at $5 with Wendy’s dollar menu or Subway—I endured exhausting, lonely drives home, often jolting myself awake by singing to avoid falling asleep at the wheel. Thankfully, I avoided accidents during this grueling period.
Years later, while working at Capital Group’s West Los Angeles office from West Covina, I faced brutal traffic and an equally demanding schedule. Simultaneously, I tackled the rigorous CFA exams, leaving little room for a personal life beyond work and study.
In 2014, launching my own investment management business added another layer of challenge. For years, I handled every task alone, working late nights and weekends as a norm. These struggles built the resilience that now drives WealthArch’s client-focused approach.
As you know, we’re big fans of WealthArch Investment Services. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
WealthArch Investment Services is an independent, actively managed investment firm run by portfolio manager, Earl Yaokasin, CFA. Earl is a fiduciary with over twenty years of experience, and whose entire personal portfolio is managed by the firm in the same investments as the company’s clients.
WealthArch is independent and not beholden to large Wall Street companies or too-big-to-fail banks which often push their advisors to adhere to the corporate party-line stock or mutual fund recommendations while selling potentially unwarranted and high-fee financial products like structured notes, insurance and annuities. In contrast, WealthArch focuses on value investing, similar to Warren Buffet’s successful approach, and disciplined strategies designed to create growth with downside protection, enabling clients to move steadily towards their life goals and aspirations with confidence.
Successful professionals and institutions that want their wealth to grow with disciplined risk management choose WealthArch because the firm’s number one rule is, “Don’t lose money”. Through deep and thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis, WealthArch only invests in companies with stock prices that provide a margin of safety, or buffer, between its stock price and the company’s valuation. This strategy gives clients peace of mind by decreasing the risk of permanent loss, reducing portfolio volatility, and panicking in down markets. As a result, WealthArch often serves as a client’s portfolio anchor and foundation, allowing them to take more risk with other investments should they want to.
WealthArch is best suited for clients with at least $500,000 to invest and who want to diversify away from having all of their wealth with a one-size-fits-all financial and retirement planning firm.
WealthArch is unique because we do all these 19 things:
1) Regards their clients’ interests above all else.
2) Maintains their Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
3) Has a trustworthy reputation and positive reviews from existing clients.
4) Invests their own money similarly to how they invest their client’s money.
5) Provides frequent updates regarding your investments including, reviews of financial statements, company news, and macro events.
6) Offers unlimited client meetings.
7) Conducts a comprehensive investment review and financial plan at no additional cost.
8) Provides free advice and recommendations for your third-party 401(k), ETFs, and mutual funds.
9) Customize an investment portfolio based on your own goals and objectives.
10) Analyze each investment thoroughly as detailed in our investment research process.
11) Possesses a fundamentally sound investment philosophy.
12) Exhibits patience and self-discipline in times of extreme fear in the markets.
13) Implements a true long-term investment strategy.
14) Has a retirement strategy that prevents you from selling stocks when the markets are significantly down.
15) Minimizes your tax implications by tax loss harvesting and optimizing stock allocations across your taxable and retirement accounts.
16) Measures performance results honestly, openly, and accurately.
17) Discloses their full schedule of fees and commissions.
18) Continuously educates themselves and their clients.
19) Offers a no-hassle, money-back fiduciary guarantee on their advisory fees.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Many individuals have played pivotal roles in turning my dreams into reality, and I’m deeply grateful for their support.
First, my wife stands out as my greatest champion. Despite my intense work focus during our first decade together, she stood by me, offering a listening ear and unwavering encouragement through stressful times, which fueled my perseverance.
Though I’ve never met them, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have been my intellectual mentors. Their writings have shaped my investment philosophy, guiding WealthArch’s value investing approach with a focus on long-term growth and downside protection.
Numerous friends, coworkers, bosses, teachers, and family members (including my kids) also deserve credit. Their belief in my potential provided the motivation to overcome challenging periods and pursue excellence. They have also helped me in various ways.
Lastly, I’m immensely thankful to my clients, whose trust in me with their life savings has been the foundation of WealthArch’s existence. Their confidence drives our mission daily.
Pricing:
- For clients with at least $500,000, WealthArch charges a 1% management fee annually
Contact Info:
- Website: mywealtharch.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earljordan.yaokasin
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wealtharch-investment-services/
- Twitter: https://x.com/Earl_Jordan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WealthArchInvestmentServices
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wealtharch-investment-services-pasadena-4?osq=WealthArch+Investment+Services
Image Credits
Samantha Fong of Nestology Studio
