Next Generation Planner: August 2022
WHO: Tiffany Soricelli
WHAT: Owner, Virtuoso Advising for Artists and Virtuoso Asset Management LLC
WHAT'S ON HER MIND: “When I tell other people that I am building this practice for artists, the first thing that people say is ‘Oh, that’s great! They’re terrible with money, they need you.’ And, really, that’s a common misconception because most are not terrible with money, they just haven’t had the same training and resources. They’re just like any other client that I work with.”
Tiffany Soricelli is the president and CEO of both Virtuoso Advising for Artists and Virtuoso Asset Management LLC. She founded these firms after starting off as a singer in life and not only seeing but understanding the problems that creative professionals have with getting their finances in order.
“I started singing professionally when I was eight in and around where I grew up in Philadelphia. When my family relocated to Long Island for my dad’s job, I kept singing, dancing, and performing. By the time I went to college, I had been performing on and off professionally for about 10 years. I went to college and earned my bachelor’s in vocal performance, but I wanted to be more marketable on paper, so I added a music business degree.”
She kept singing and performing on the side, but her day job took her down a winding path that eventually ended up in finance.
“I moved to New York and got a job as a contract liaison for an arts management firm. We managed the careers of 26 singers and three conductors, and I got to see firsthand the lifestyle that creative professionals lead.”
It was tough being the liaison for professionals who had erratic schedules. When one of her clients had to fly out on Christmas day and leave their family for a performance, Tiffany decided that she didn’t want to make singing her career, but that she’d continue to sing because she enjoys doing it. She looked around for other opportunities and found a job at a hedge fund.
“I leaned heavily on my administrative skills and moved from arts management to an $11 billion hedge fund. There, I served as the second assistant to the owner and the direct assistant to the vice president. For me, it was a completely different world to go from the arts sector to the financial sector, and I absolutely loved it.”
There, she absorbed as much information as she could to learn the role and worked through the ’08 market crash. Though she wanted to learn more about finance, she felt that she wouldn’t be able to make a career of it with only a music degree, and even though she was singing with the New York City Master Chorale on the side, she missed music.
“I decided to go back to school and get my master’s in music education. While I was studying there, I was asked to take over as the executive director for the Orchestra of Northern New York. That experience led me on a seven-year path in nonprofit management and fundraising. And somehow, through my service and volunteerism, I met a couple of advisers at a larger broker-dealer here in Albany, and they showed me that there was a different way to create impact and begin working in personal finance.”
She liked this new angle because it was another way of aligning financial values with the people involved.
“What I loved about fundraising was asking for money for our institution and aligning the donor’s goals with our institutional aims, and, honestly, financial advising and asset management are very much the same. I’m going to ask for money for your goals and for your plan and really align everything with your values and what’s important to you. So I ended up making a career change from nonprofit development to personal financial advising at Northwestern Mutual.”
She started working there right before the birth of her daughter. She struggled with training alongside raising a baby, but she persevered. She continued working there for a couple of years, and even received regional recognition for her production as a female in her sales group, but after a while, she felt she needed to change something.
“Northwestern Mutual helped me get the training and the support I needed to start, but I reached a point in my career where I wanted to do more asset management and fee-based financial planning versus insurance sales. I got my [Series] 65 and transitioned to a boutique RIA in my area. There, I continued to hone my skills, grow my practice, and I helped spearhead some women and wealth initiatives and millennial-focused planning programs.”
On the side, while steadily growing her practice, she created Virtuoso Advising for Artists as an outside business activity and began teaching business and financial concepts to artists and creative professionals.
“I realized that I’m connected to all these creative professionals who didn’t fit our model. I couldn’t even get their monthly cash flow to fit our proprietary software, and I began to see that the system overall was really not built for small, independent, creative solo entrepreneurs. I wanted to help, and that’s when the Virtuoso brand was born.
“Most artists don’t identify as a business owner, and I help them understand that they are, indeed, in business. I developed my own curriculum that I tailor based on who I’m working with, and the teaching became a natural segue for people to inquire about working with me.”
Clearly, there was a need for this work. Washington National Opera reached out to her to help educate their young artists, and that quickly expanded to include other companies. This last season, she served on the faculty of The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Minnesota Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New World Symphony, and a handful of other well-known musical institutions. She came full circle from her roots as a singer, now providing financial planning to other artists.
“Being a singer, I understand the training, work, mindset, and repertoire, and I’m able to introduce new concepts without jargon in a very empathetic way from a similar, shared background.”
Founding Virtuoso Asset Management LLC (VAM) in 2021 was a natural evolution of the teaching. She was providing foundational concepts in cash-flow management and business planning and wanted to create a financial firm dedicated to serving artists through fee-only financial planning and asset management.
“Before launching my firm, I surveyed my target audience and I asked, ‘What would a financial services company dedicated to artists and support of the arts look like?’ and then I shut up. My target clients told me exactly what they wanted, and then I built that.”
VAM was created with the following core principles: radical transparency, zero conflict of interest (no commission-based products), ESG investment strategies, and a 1 percent for the arts giveback. She found that being transparent about her fees made it easier for artists with erratic income to approach her. That’s why her prices are listed on her website including a fee calculator that translates AUM percentages to annual dollars based on account size.
“In 2021, when I made the decision to go fully independent, it very much felt like a leap of faith, but it’s quickly beginning to feel like the field of dreams: ‘If you build it, they will come.’”
Her clients like the firm’s commitment to the arts and that Tiffany walks the walk and prioritizes giving back to the arts community.
“I donate 1 percent of our gross profit from both companies back to an arts 501(c)(3), however, I am not choosing that organization to avoid any conflict of interest. In fact, I have no vote at all. In November, we survey our clients and members and have them nominate a nonprofit. We let the community know who was nominated, and then we just put it back to them to vote. Whichever organization gets the most votes is who I write the check to.”
In addition to her standard advising services and her asset management, she also has a membership model to keep people engaged.
“I work with a lot of emerging artists, and many times, they don’t really have assets that need managed yet, or they don’t need a full financial plan to tell them to save money. The idea for a membership is based on a retention model, giving those individuals access to me, my client newsletters, market commentary, and other tools and resources that I give my clients. Sometimes young artists email me with a quick question. I don’t want to bill for my time like an attorney, and yet at the same time, I can’t always be giving my time away for free. So, six dollars a month is all it takes to have ongoing access and support, and I feel we certainly overdeliver for that fee.”
Tiffany has the unique experience to empathize with clients regarding the struggles that come with being an artist. She has been on a long journey to get where she is today, and although there is always something new to learn in finance, her life experiences lend a different sort of understanding.
“Until my early 30s, I felt like it had to be one or the other; that I’m either in the arts sector or in business; I’m teaching and singing or working in finance and it’s just my day job. Once I figured out how to marry the two, music and finance, I felt like I came home. I found my people and my niche where I could provide the most value.”
Tiffany had some advice for other career changers moving into financial planning from other backgrounds.
“Early on, you want to establish yourself as a credible adviser—so you do need to play the part. But coming from a different background brings a whole different set of skills, and frankly I think my varied background enhances my ability as an adviser because I’m able to identify and connect with clients from all different careers. So, work hard, develop your content knowledge and sales skills, but make sure you’re not hiding who you are. Fully embracing my varied experience and creative background makes me more accessible to the clients who I’m working with, not just another ‘suit,’ and people like that about me. They know I’m also a singer and that I’m not going to judge them where they are on their financial journey because I’ve been there or seen it. When you bring your whole self to the career, you’re going to help others understand finance in a completely new way because you’ve walked that walk—you’ve been in their shoes. That leads to massive impact and clients who become raving fans and life-long friends.”
