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Financial Adviser
Has Clients’ Best Interests in Mind

By Phil Perry
Times Staff
4/29/10

Chris Petrik had plenty of excuses to leave.

His lower-level offices at 500 Granite Ave. were flooded. The water destroyed parts of the walls and floors. Desks, file cabinets and framed pictures all had to be relocated to be salvaged. Workers invaded to rip up the molding carpet.

Mother Nature was shoveling reasons for an early spring vacation in Petrik’s direction. But, as if they were the particles of dust that settled at his Milton office during its reconstruction, he brushed them aside and didn’t miss a day.

Petrik, a senior financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial, believes that now – as the economy is slowly starting to gain some momentum – it’s just as important as ever to show his clients that he’s working for them.

“Our role right now is to make sure people see through all the garbage out there and take advantage of what they can,” he said. “We want them to implement the strategies that are going to help them accomplish their goals.”

A former college football player at Amherst College, it’s not hard to understand Petrik’s goal-oriented drive and competitive nature. At the same time, the father of four Glover Elementary School students and Cub Scout den leader is far from the stereotypical shark circling in the waters of the financial world.

“We don’t want people losing their shirts as they go,” says Petrik, who focuses on helping people plan for retirement and wrestle college financial aid packages. “We want to show our clients that we’re doing the right thing. I still get a charge out of helping people see that they’re getting closer to achieving their goals. Our energy is channeled into that, not necessarily doing better than the next guy on the street.”

Petrik is a Buffalo native who moved to Milton after marrying his wife, Ann Marie, who hails from Wollaston. A good student at the Nichols School, within a mist’s range from Niagara Falls, he played football, hockey and basketball. On the hardwood, he played for a state championship with the help of teammate Christian Laettner, who went on to win a national championship at Duke University and play for the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball “Dream Team.”

Petrik’s best sport, however, was football, which led him to Amherst as a hard-hitting defensive back.

Those athletic inclinations have followed him to Milton, where he coaches youth sports nearly year-round. He’s worked the sidelines of his children’s games for Milton Town Soccer, Milton National League Baseball and St. Agatha basketball.

“I just love staying active,” says Petrik. “I never played soccer so that took some getting used to, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

He does pro bono work advising the military and has been offered positions to teach basic financial skills part time at high schools in Boston and Randolph.

“That’s something I’d love to do in Milton,” says Petrik. “It would be teaching kids how to balance a check book. The differences between a stock, a bond and a mutual fund. How to budget. Just basic things everyone should be thinking about.”

After an early-afternoon meeting in April, Petrik hit the books. Of course, the work never stops. He was studying for his final Charter Financial Consultant Designation exam later that day.

“Early on in my career, I knew it was important to be highly educated,” says Petrik. “That’s what we’re trying to do now … just educate. The markets are cyclical and it’s important that people know we’re going to have our day in the sun again.”