About

About Me

Nils Larsen is an accomplished financial portfolio manager with more than 20 years of experience. He was born in St. Louis, MO, and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his two sons and German Shepherd.

Nils Larsen Current Role

Nils Larsen, the Manager, currently works for a top investment firm in the Los Angeles area. He understands his clients and helps them set financial goals and objectives based on risk tolerance. Larsen then develops investment strategies to help his clients reach those goals and monitors and adapts those strategies as the environment changes.

Larsen is experienced in handling transactions involving stocks, mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded funds, and other investment vehicles. He also teaches finance as an adjunct professor at a local community college.

Career History

Larsen's father was a local small business owner, and his mother was a certified public accountant. Larsen credits his parents with getting him interested in investing early in life. In addition, they provided Larsen with a small amount of money to support and helped him set financial goals, such as saving up for a trip to Six Flags over the summer.

Nils Larsen was an enterprising child. Inspired by his hero, Warren Buffet, Larsen combed the local library for every book on making money he could get his hands on. He opened his first small business selling live bait and homemade fishing lures to neighborhood anglers when he was ten. Throughout his teens, he would run several small businesses, including a trading card company and a lawn mowing service. He also helped his father run the family business.

During college, he interned for one of the top financial services companies in the St. Louis Metro area. Then, as a graduate student, he invested in a small Los Angeles area surf shop before taking on his first full-time job as an associate financial portfolio manager.

Academic History

Nils Larsen graduated as the valedictorian of his class from Metro Academic and Classical High School. Using the financial skills his parents taught him, he could graduate from St. Louis University debt free with a 4.0 GPA and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance. He attended graduate school in Irvine, California, where he earned a Master of Finance degree from the UCI Paul Merage School of Business.

During his time as an undergraduate, he served as a member of the Student Government Association and was a member of Alpha Kappa Psi-Delta Sigma. He also participated in Economics Club, Fitness Friends, the Honors Student Association, and Open Club Ultimate Frisbee.

Professional Skills and Experience

As a portfolio manager, Nils Larsen is responsible for making investment decisions and creating and implementing investment strategies to help clients meet their financial goals. He began his career in portfolio management as an associate and worked his way up by doing research and analysis.

Larsen then moved into a management position where he directed a team of investment professionals. He currently reports directly to the chief investment officer of his company and has aspirations to move into an executive position.

Philanthropy

Larsen is passionate about helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access education and learns about investing. He financially supports the Wesley House Student Residence program and is a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters Los Angeles.

Larsen is also passionate about animal welfare. He volunteers with several Los Angeles area rescue organizations. He financially supports the FACE Foundation, which seeks to end the need for economic euthanasia of pets by providing financial assistance to pet owners who can not afford life-saving veterinary care.

He considers Warren Buffet his role model and strives to model his philanthropic efforts after his financial hero; and hopes to one day start a non-profit foundation to teach young people financial literacy.

Achievements

Nils Larsen currently holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, which is the highest distinction in the investment management profession. He was the youngest Associate in his company's history to move into a management position and has helped his clients increase their portfolios by millions of dollars. Larsen has been named a Rising Star and named Employee of the Year at his investment firm twice.

Personal Interests/Hobbies

Nils Larsen enjoys home with his two sons and his German Shepherd. He and his family love surfing, hiking, fishing, and spending time outdoors. They also compete in obedience, rally, tracking, and agility competitions with their dog Frank.

Larsen is a lifelong fan of his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a season ticket holder at Dodger Stadium, where he watches his adopted crew, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Larsen is still part owner of a small surf shop and can be found catching a wave at one of California's many beaches most weekends.