James S Smith, CFP®
My Mission Statement
Your equity compensation can play a significant role in your overall financial picture. As your Workplace Advisor for Equity Compensation and a Financial Advisor, I am here to help you align your equity compensation strategy with your broader financial goals. My aim is to help you to preserve and grow your wealth, connecting you with the resources you need when you need them. My team works with C-Suite Executives and Senior Level Executives. We know that you have complex benefits including stock options, deferred compensation and often concentrated stock in the company you lead. We incorporate all of your employer benefits into your financial plan and provide you strategies that are supportive of your personal goals.
Financial Planning has been Jim's passion since he began his financial services career in the early 1980s. Planning was a new discipline at that time and was not clearly understood by the people who could benefit from it most. Jim worked with several firms providing corporate executives with the guidance to maximize their equity compensation and minimize financial distractions that diverted their focus from their work responsibilities. He was an early recipient of the prestigious Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation and has taught in Boston University's Financial Planning Program since 1993.
Jim joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 because he realized that the plans he developed could be even more successful, if his clients had access to a complete spectrum of financial services that encompassed not only asset management, but lending, risk management, trusts and other areas of expertise. He established The Compass Bay Group with Leta Davis to better serve the corporate executives who look to him for guidance.
Jim is a graduate of Babson College with a BS in Corporate Finance. He resides in Sherborn, MA with his wife and two children.
NMLS#: 1275595
As a Financial Advisor specializing in equity compensation, I have experience helping clients manage their equity awards as part of their larger financial picture and can help you define a strategy that aligns with both your current needs and future financial goals.
Your equity award journey is always evolving and I’m here to help at every step of the way. Together we can make sure you stay on top of key milestones, including vesting events or options expirations.
Your equity compensation is a powerful tool to help you achieve your financial goals. By working with you to understand your needs and objectives, I can help you make decisions about your equity awards that help support your broader financial picture.
Having a plan can help you stay on track towards meeting your goals. Together we can implement a goals-based plan, that takes your equity awards in to account, and adjusts it as your goals and markets change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Working with Us
Ready to invest in what matters to you?
The information, products and services described here are intended only for individuals residing in states where this Financial Advisor is properly registered as described in this site.
Morgan Stanley reserves the right, to the extent permitted under applicable law, to retain and monitor all electronic communications. Morgan Stanley will not accept purchase or sale orders via any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. Morgan Stanley does not endorse and is not responsible and assumes no liability for content, products or services posted by third-parties on any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. All electronic communications are subject to terms available at the following link:
https://www.morganstanley.com/disclaimers/mswm-email.html. Any profiles and associated content are for U.S. residents only.
The securities/instruments, services, investments and investment strategies discussed in this material may not be suitable for all investors. The appropriateness of a particular investment, investment strategy or service will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC recommends that investors independently evaluate investments, strategies, and services, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor or Private Wealth Advisor. This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) is not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement with/of the third party or that any monitoring is being done by Morgan Stanley of any information contained within the website. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information contained on the third-party website or the use of or inability to use such site. Nor do we guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
The views, opinions or advice contained within third party websites or materials are solely those of the author, who is not a Morgan Stanley employee, and do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, or its affiliates. The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be appropriate for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives.
*References to length of service at Morgan Stanley include years at Morgan Stanley and predecessor firms.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is a registered Broker/Dealer, Member SIPC, and not a bank. Where appropriate, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC has entered into arrangements with banks and other third parties to assist in offering certain banking related products and services.
Investment, insurance and annuity products offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC are: NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | NOT A BANK DEPOSIT | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
Awards Disclosures
