Finance & Consulting
Scroll through the blog posts and stories below to learn more about Hamilton student and alumni experiences in this industry, and then use our check out our links to various resources on the right side of the page. Finally, meet with your career advisor and explore the Career Center curriculum to learn how to network with alumni to discuss your interests and learn more about their work.
Finance & Consulting Blog
From Hamilton Alumni Director to Financial Advisor
By Scott Belleman ’72
November 11, 2021
Tags Finance & Consulting
My story is a bit of an odd one, and it even involves working at Hamilton for a while. After graduation in 1972, I went through the General Electric financial management training program. I was with GE from 1972 to 1975, two years in Schenectady, NY, and one in San Jose, CA. While in San Jose, I attended a Hamilton alumni event in San Francisco and ran into Sid Wertimer and Martin Caravano. They told me about a job opening in the Advancement Office as the alumni director. I applied for the position, flew back east for some interviews, and pretty soon I was back in Clinton.
After four years in what was then called communications and development, I moved on to Richmond, VA. For a short time, I worked for a minor league hockey team doing promotional work. In the course of working that job, I bumped into a former Cornell hockey player who was kind enough to do some business with me. It turned out that he was a recruiter and assistant manager for a financial services firm called Manulife. After several phone conversations and meetings, he encouraged me to think about changing careers and to pursue financial planning. I followed his lead and started working at Manulife in April 1980.
That began a 35-year career as a financial advisor, primarily working with families in and around Richmond. I built my business through referrals, and after a couple of years, I was quite sure that I wanted it to be my career. It was a great job because I loved running my own practice, having clients, and being responsible for the day-to-day decisions of running a small business. I really like people, and love hearing their stories. Helping people with their financial goals and objectives was both stimulating and creative.
I was an in-house advisor for the first half of my career and then set up my own shop in the late 1990s. Eventually, I brought in three other people to help me with my growing practice. Those folks have now taken over the business, allowing me to retire about five years ago.
In retirement, I still do some volunteer work that relates to both my financial advising career and my fundraising duties at Hamilton. I really like the subject of deferred giving, and have helped some nonprofits set up legacy societies that encourage their supporters to consider charitable gifts at death. Kind of a weird niche hobby for a retiree, but I really enjoy it.
I would welcome the opportunity to talk with Hamilton students about either financial planning or development work.
