Profile Interview
Peter J. D’Arruda, RFC®
Coach Pete Peter J. “Coach Pete” D’Arruda, RFC® and Investment Advisor, is President and Founding Principal of Capital Financial Advisory, LLC in Cary, North Carolina. Having written four financial books, he is a well respected author. His radio show, COACH PETE’S FINANCIAL SAFARI, is heard weekly on radio stations in North Carolina and on over 100 stations across the country. “Coach Pete” has joined the roster of Register Member Profiles. How did you first enter financial services? Back in 1989, I entered the mortgage business helping people refinance their homes. So many people kept asking me financial and insurance questions, that it was apparent there was a gigantic need for that service as well. So in July of 1992, I acquired my Insurance license and later, my Long Term Care license. My concentration was safe money solutions. Page 16
Living in the Research Triangle Park, I’ve been surrounded with very knowledgeable people as well as high tech companies. Words cannot express the emotions and turmoil I saw potential clients experiencing when the tech bubble popped in the year 2000. So many people had become lopsided and overweighed on the risk side of their portfolios. When it happened again in 2008, I decided to become an Investment Advisor so I could show people both sides of the money world and try to at least offer qualified guidance and proper institutional-like money management in an attempt to keep them properly balanced. What was your educational background? I graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988 with a degree in Political Science.
Were you successful at first? I felt I was successful income-wise but not in a time management capacity. I was driving all over a three state territory and working 60-80 hours a week. Much of that time I called “windshield time”, as I was constantly driving to and from appointments. The first ten years are basically a blur. I was in effect, working 80 hours a week for myself to keep from working 40 hours a week for someone else! What or who influenced you the most? When I was eight years old, my family moved to North Carolina from Wisconsin. My father had just finished his PhD in Physics and had accepted his first teaching job at a small North Carolina School, UNC-Pembroke. My mother and father, both being from the Boston area, were big Boston Redsox fans. Needless to say, this The Register | May 2013