This Son Of Cuban Immigrants Manages Over $800 Million For New York Clients At MassMutual

Name: Michael Davila

Firm: MassMutual

Location: New York, NY

AUM: $824 million

Forbes Rankings: America’s Top Financial Security Professionals, Top Financial Security Professionals Best-In-State

Background: Michael Davila grew up in Queens, New York, the son of two Cuban immigrants who escaped communism in the 1960s and arrived in the United States with nothing. Davila graduated from New York University in 2004, majoring in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He joined MetLife
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in 2007, shortly before the onset of the financial crisis. “I always knew my dream was to work with people on Wall Street,” says Davila. As many of his first clients were affected by the recession, he cites this as a formative period which inspired him to specialize in risk management when it comes to insurance and retirement planning. “I ate spaghetti for the better part of three years and really had to build my book of business through blood, sweat and tears,” he recalls. In 2012, he linked up with two partners and an operations manager to form a team he has stayed with ever since, even after a move to MassMutual. Davila now mostly works with clients who are executives at big financial service companies.

Competitive Edge: “One of the selling points when I meet a new client is that I like to tell stories,” says Davila. “My team is fast and efficient because we work together—there is no miscommunication and that is at the core of good financial planning.”

Lessons Learned: He cites his father’s death from cancer in 2007, shortly after he started as an advisor, as another formative experience. “My father’s business had been struggling so we were left penniless,” he recalls. “That inspired me to make sure no family goes through what my family went through because of poor decision making or not having a financial advisor.”

Investment Philosophy/Strategy: Davila describes his team’s holistic approach to working with clients, where he tends to focus more on the insurance side of the practice while his partners focus on portfolio management. The team typically diversifies client assets across three different buckets: pre-tax, taxable and tax-free. This strategy enables clients to have guaranteed income from a retirement perspective, discretionary income to live off of but also a safety net for unforeseen expenses, says Davila.

Investment Outlook: When it comes to his high-net worth clients, Davila runs point on premium financing for insurance solutions. Often, other advisors at his firm and elsewhere hire Davila and his team to secure loans for their clients with the purpose of financing life insurance. “Interest rates are also a big part of what we do,” says Davila. While the business was hot in 2021 and 2022, revenues have fallen this year along with higher rates, though there is still some demand, he says. “From a markets standpoint, my personal belief is that we will absolutely have a recession in the next 12 months,” predicts Davila. “Still, I think there will be a soft landing—and the Fed got it right, as a strong labor market will prevent us from having a hard recession.” While he acknowledges the Fed should have acted sooner, he thinks the central bank may have responded to inflation just in time to successfully maneuver a soft landing.

Best Advice: “There’s nothing casual about someone handing over their life savings to you,” says Davila. “That really resonates with me and it’s the reason you’ll never catch me not in a suit and tie.”

Favorite Movie/TV Show: Davila cites The Pursuit of Happiness, starring Will Smith, as one of his favorite movies. “I felt like he did in the movie when I finally succeeded as rookie of the year at MetLife in 2007, especially after all of the cold calls I made,” he recalls. Davila is also a big fan of the popular television show Game of Thrones.