The Dispatch

Meet Ger Thao

Transfer Specialist Ger Thao started with EQIS in 2017 opening accounts and was promoted to Transfer Specialist in 2018.

We caught up with Ger to find out why his work is so important to advisors.

Describe your day-to-day role here at Freedom Advisors.
My main responsibility working with Jenny in the Transfers department is to initiate or process transfers into and out of accounts. I also follow up on the status of each transfer and confirm it is complete.

What do you love most about your work?
I love that I am able to see a transfer from start to finish. Often transfers take time and it is a process. Some are more complicated than others, some are electronic and may take just a couple of days while others require us to submit paperwork to our custodians. It is very detail-oriented work which is something I really enjoy. We pride ourselves on service and being accurate and getting it right, always double-checking our work. I just love knowing the process and what it takes to get it done and I’m able to transfer our advisors’ client funds successfully.

What is your most often-asked question?
It’s definitely about the status of transfers. Again, it is a process and everything has to be right and be reviewed. That naturally takes time in many cases. When we get the question of timing, I make it my priority to research and find out what the timeframe is for completion. Then we pass that information on to the advisor immediately.

What is a little-known fact about you?
I was born in Laos and my ethnicity is Hmong, a tribal indigenous group from a mountaintop in Southeast Asia. My people were recruited by the American CIA to fight a secret war during the Vietnam conflict. My family migrated to a refugee camp in Thailand after the Vietnam conflict and then later we were given an opportunity to live in the U.S. At that time, I was just a baby, but still consider myself as first-generation Hmong American.

What is the best advice you ever received?
It was from my mother and it was to always do your best and value everything you do. For example, treat every transfer like it is your own and take accountability for it. So I try to do my best and treat everything like it is my own, that pertains to my job and anything I do in my life.