What are 3 words people use to describe you?
Dedicated, easy-going, curious
What are you most grateful for?
Living in a place called paradise (aka Palm Springs). The scenery is beautiful, the weather is gorgeous, the living is casual and easy, and our friends are wonderful!
What gets you excited about life?
Watching people do amazing things with their minds and bodies!
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Don’t burn your bridges.
How do you define success?
When somebody puts their best efforts into a task and accomplishes all or part of it after overcoming major challenges along the way.
What is your proudest achievement?
Being a lifelong learner! I was inspired at an early age to continue learning throughout life and am glad and proud I’ve maintained this mindset.
What life lesson did you learn the hard way?
It’s important to keep technical skills, certifications and continuing education up to date throughout your working life. Earlier in my career I became complacent after working at a firm a long time and didn’t proactively invest in training because I thought I’d be with the firm until I retired. When the company had large layoffs, I found it was harder for me to find my next job because I hadn’t done a good job keeping my skills and contacts current.
John Wong serves as a Client Service Associate with Cypress Wealth Services. As a Client Service Associate, John is responsible for a wide range of client service responsibilities including account opening, ongoing account maintenance, financial planning support and insurance and annuity contract processing. Prior to joining Cypress Wealth Services, John served as the Chief Compliance Officer for a Registered Investment Advisory firm where he was responsible for the firm's regulatory investment responsibilities and before that was a portfolio control manager for twenty years at a global investment management firm in Los Angeles, where he was involved with regulatory and investment compliance. John is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA®), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE®), has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA®) and is an Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional (IACCP®). He is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the National Society of Compliance Professionals, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and the California '40 Acts Group. He currently volunteers by reading scholarship applications for his alma mater and being a committee member of the Institute of Internal Auditors. John has a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He is married and enjoys traveling, cooking, hiking and foreign films.