Name: Sarah Ponczek-Van Camp Firm: UBS Private Wealth Management Location: Boca Raton, Florida Team Custodied Assets: $4 billion

Background: Sarah Ponczek-Van Camp once thought anchoring a Bloomberg morning show would be a career-defining opportunity. The former competitive dancer from Parkland, Florida joined the company after graduating from the University of Michigan in 2016, moving from covering economics in Washington, D.C., to reporting on stocks, bonds and private markets in New York. She also became a regular presence on Bloomberg television and radio and co-hosted the investing podcast What Goes Up . Her turning point came in 2020, when she tested positive for Covid-19 just before a two-week stint anchoring one of Bloomberg’s morning shows. “The next day I woke up and I wasn’t really that heartbroken about it,” she says. “I had this big realization that if I wasn’t that heartbroken about missing this opportunity, what was I doing?” Ponczek-Van Camp had grown tired of the daily grind in financial news and wanted to use her market experience to build longer-term relationships with clients. She was also considering returning to South Florida, where she saw wealthy families relocating from New York and other major cities. She believed the influx created an opening for a young female advisor with market experience and deep local ties. In April 2021, she moved back to Florida and joined a 16-person UBS team.

Investment Philosophy and Market Outlook: Ponczek-Van Camp says her team starts by examining what clients already own before recommending new investments. A private equity executive, for example, may already have significant exposure to one industry through their career and personal holdings, so adding another private equity fund could concentrate their risk rather than diversify it. Private assets generally account for 10% to 15% of client portfolios, though some clients hold more than 30%. Her team focuses on funds backing early-stage technology companies and infrastructure projects, including the data centers needed to support the artificial intelligence boom. “I think artificial intelligence is fantastic. I’m utilizing it to be even more efficient and make sure my clients aren’t left behind,” she says.

Competitive Edge: Ponczek-Van Camp says being younger and often the only woman in the room once felt like a disadvantage, but now helps her stand out and connect with clients who may not relate to a more traditional advisory team. “You stand out, you offer a different perspective and you can relate to clients and potential clients really well,” she says. She also credits her Bloomberg career with giving her added credibility, since prospective clients can review years of television appearances, articles, podcasts and market commentary. Still, she says that visibility raises the pressure to arrive prepared. “You need to prove to everyone that you’re really great at what you do.”

Building Relationships: Ponczek-Van Camp says wealthy families often spend years building investment, tax and estate plans without adequately preparing the children and grandchildren who will inherit the assets. She brings younger family members into the conversation early, holding educational calls after school and arranging Sunday night meetings with 10 different grandchildren scattered across the country. “My clients appreciate that I make their kids feel important even though the money might not yet be theirs,” she says. Some may eventually inherit enormous sums and Ponczek-Van Camp believes preparing them early can make that responsibility less overwhelming.

What Keeps Her Up At Night: Ponczek-Van Camp worries that years of strong returns have encouraged some investors to take more risk than they can actually tolerate. “When clients see markets go up and up and up, it does feed greed,” she says. “They want more of it, and sometimes they start taking more and more risk.” She worries that those clients will panic and sell when markets fall, turning temporary declines into permanent losses.

Best Advice: “Believe in yourself enough to take risks, and stay humble enough to keep learning,” says Ponczek-Van Camp. “The people who grow are the ones who trust themselves to figure things out.”