The Dispatch

Meet Araceli Gonzalez

Portfolio Administration Manager Araceli Gonzalez joined Freedom Advisors in 2014 to open new accounts and work in Advisor Services. She also worked on the Transfers team before moving into her current role.

We caught up with Araceli to find out more about her and the important work she does for advisors.

Describe what you do here day-to-day.
The Portfolio Administration team is responsible for implementing advisor investment instructions, whether that is for a new account, changes to an existing account, raising cash for withdrawals, or injecting funds into existing models. We also process all changes to holdings and weights of managed models and build all new models, whether for our third-party model providers, EQIS models, or advisor-built models. Our volumes fluctuate daily and that requires us to be cross-trained, work collaboratively and help each other as needed.

What do you love most about your job?
Our team. The way we show up for each other, our bond and the support that we give each other from day-to-day are the things I love most. The day-to-day challenges test our minds and teach us lessons about the importance of perseverance, dedication and hard work. Overcoming challenges as a team empowers us individually and collectively.

What is your most often-asked question? 
"Can you expedite the processing of XYZ?" Even though all trading tickets received are handled with sensitivity and urgency, it's basically a daily question that comes up but it's great because it provides us an opportunity to meet or exceed the advisor’s expectations and provide satisfaction. That is really rewarding.

What is one interesting fact that few people know about you? 
I love making baskets. I picked it up as a hobby during the pandemic and have made close to 10 small twine baskets over the last couple of years. My goal is to learn to work with different materials and eventually make bigger and different styles of baskets.

What is the best advice you ever received? 
Be self-reliant. If you want to make sure things get done right the first time, then do it yourself. Applying this in the workplace is a bit different because I rely heavily on our team as we work together to meet daily departmental goals. To me being self-reliant in the workplace means evolving and growing and helping others do the same. We have a responsibility to improve ourselves via the development of skills and abilities in a variety of areas. Having confidence and trust in your abilities and instincts helps make the right decision for me and the team.