Richard J. West, CMFC®

    

Rick West has over twenty-three years of professional financial industry experience. He has taught financial seminars on technical analysis (the method of evaluating securities and financial markets by analyzing statistics generated by market activity), written a financial newsletter, and has held a Commodity Trading Advisor Series 3 License (a license he no longer holds, NFA ID: 0409843) while operating a commodity trading firm.  He has also served in the role of Directing Manager of Trading and Analytics for a currency trading company. Prior to changing careers in March of 2000, Rick was heavily involved with new school design projects after having graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in May of 1991.

In 2009, Rick began assisting clients with their comprehensive financial and retirement planning as a financial advisor with broker-dealer Waddell & Reed. In 2015 he merged his independent advisor practice with fellow associate Elizabeth Sampson and they ultimately began doing business as Concord River Financial (CRF) in May of 2018. After a successful broker-dealer transition to LPL Financial in July of 2021, Rick assumed the role of Senior Partner of CRF in charge of all operations. In this position, he has continued to enjoy providing his clients with the dedicated, experienced, and customized fiduciary guidance they have come to expect.

When affiliated with Waddell & Reed, Rick was a recipient of their Circle of Champions award in both 2013, 2014 and from 2016 – 2020; and their prestigious Crest and Advisor Medalist awards from 2017 through 2020. In 2014 and from 2016 to 2019, Rick received Waddell & Reed's Excellence in Financial Planning award; and in 2015, received the firm's Financial Planning Career Milestone award for having completed more than 100 financial plans for his clients.*

After having been associated with LPL Financial for only a few short months in 2021, Rick was granted LPL’s respected “Director’s Club” award for being in the top 20% of all affiliated advisors. In 2022, Rick earned a spot in the even more prestigious “Chairman’s Club” as one of LPL Financial’s top 500 financial advisors.This elite award is presented to less than 4% of the firm’s more than 21,000 financial advisors nationwide.**

Rick earned the Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor^SM (CMFC®) designation from the College of Financial Planning in February 2015. To obtain the CMFC^® designation, recipients complete a strenuous course that encompasses the various aspects of mutual funds and their uses as investment vehicles. Recipients are required to exhibit a high degree of competence in integrating complex and theoretical mutual fund concepts into real-life situations. Designees are also required to adhere to a high Standard of Professional Conduct and must continue with bi-annual continuing education courses, further reaffirming their adherence to the required Standards of Professional Conduct and knowledge of the subject material.  

Rick holds the Series 7 and Series 66 licenses through LPL Financial, as well as Life, Accident & Health Insurance licenses, and serves clients throughout the United States. He is also an active member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI).

Rick has been happily married since 1992 to Nancy Shohet West, a Boston Globe feature and independent memoir writer. They reside in Carlisle, Massachusetts with their much-loved children, Tim and Holly. In his spare time Rick is an avid Boston sports fan, enjoys traveling & long drives, and takes joy in home maintenance projects & yard work. Rick volunteers for the Carlisle Council on Aging assisting the elderly with their financial concerns, and he is a former board member for Grow A Strong Family Inc., a non-profit organization that provides customized family life education services for families affected by mental health issues.

Retirement is not on the horizon for Rick, particularly with two college-aged children; but when asked at a business conference how he’d like to be remembered by his clients after he does retire, his response … “That they could always trust that I was there for them.”

^{* Awards were presented annually by Waddell & Reed and are based on an analysis of investments, insurance and financial planning sales generated by the advisor. For additional information regarding the awards and dates received, please contact the advisor.}  

^{**Achievement is based on annual production among LPL Advisors only.}