In a volatile financial climate, Zar Toolan, Columbia ’01, is on the cutting edge of investment advising practices. Toolan, a Wells Fargo senior vice president and director of advice quality, is a proponent of goals-based financial planning, where the aim of investment advisors is to help their clients meet personal goals and achieve desirable outcomes, rather than simply outperforming the market. This approach earned him a spot on the cover of the financial publication On Wall Street.

“Clients don’t tend to think of themselves in terms of accounts, performance and investment, but rather in terms of their own goals, dreams and aspirations,” Toolan told On Wall Street. “The industry has had to make a shift from trying to compete on pure performance to working more with clients around their individual goals. Those are the benchmarks that clients are striving for.”

See the original story.

Toolan served on SigEp’s Headquarters staff as a regional director and director of member development. After working as a nuclear engineer for the Department of Defense, Toolan made the jump to banking. Today, he combines an interest in how things work with a determination to achieve.

The result? Several new portfolio management applications being trademarked and patented under his leadership. Thirty marathons and ultra-marathons completed. A top-10 finish in the world’s longest kayak race. And countless hours spent serving community boards and mentoring undergraduates at Carlson and Ruck.

In the Summer 2015 SigEp Journal, Toolan was listed on Part I of the Fraternity’s 40 Under 40.