COVER STORY
Andrew Samalin
Principal & CCO
Samalin Wealth
Andrew Samalin is the principal of Samalin Wealth, an SEC-registered investment advisory firm headquartered in Westchester County, New York. Samalin Wealth provides wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and specializes in serving attorneys, their firms, and their clients, primarily in matrimonial and personal injury law. The firm guides clients through complex financial decisions during major life transitions, helping them build and protect wealth in line with their own goals, circumstances, and long-term vision.
At CIO Global, we are proud to present Andrew Samalin as the Cover Story of The Most Exceptional Leaders in Finance, 2026.
Andrew’s path into finance began at New York University, where he completed both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, the latter in real estate finance. Prior to founding Samalin Wealth in 2007, Andrew held Senior Vice President, Investment positions at Morgan Stanley, Prudential Securities, and Wachovia Securities. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional, an Enrolled Agent, authorized to represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. He currently serves on the New York Advisory Committee for InvestmentNews and is formerly the Vice Chairman of the Bethel Communities, New York state’s largest CCRC.
At Samalin Wealth, the relationship will always be between people, and that human connection is what makes the client experience.
Andrew believes one of the biggest challenges facing the finance industry today is personalization. Technology has become pivotal in building systems that work at scale by executing large volumes of transactions quickly. However, personal finance is different. Every client’s situation is nuanced, shaped by their own life, family, and goals. He says, “Delivering advice at a deep, personal level for each individual client, while still operating efficiently, is a skill harder than automating a process.”
Nonetheless, Andrew embraces how much technology has reshaped the finance industry. He has watched the industry evolve from using paper and manual processes to the development of automated models and AI-driven algorithms. Andrew views this progress as a positive force that speeds up processes, improves accuracy, and lowers costs. However, he believes the real test is whether technology will be able to serve each client personally and doubts it will ever fully replace one-to-one human interaction. “At least, not likely in my lifetime,” he adds wryly.
Andrew states that people choose Samalin Wealth not only because of the team’s technical skill in financial planning and wealth management, but because the team takes the time to see each situation through the client’s own eyes, understanding their appetite for risk and reward, knowing family relationships and dynamics, and being able to assess their long-term financial goals. Artificial intelligence and technology will play a growing role as a resource for advisors, but the relationship itself will always be between people, and that human connection is what makes the client experience. As routine and administrative tasks become more streamlined through technology, the focus will be on the fundamentals that matter most to clients: clear communication, fair pricing of services, high-quality investment choices, responsive client services, and a constant effort to innovate.
On the subject of risk, Andrew is direct about where his priorities lie. He believes risk management must come first at the client level, since the potential upside in investing is open-ended and hard to define in advance. This does not mean limiting a client’s experience or opportunities. Instead, it means helping clients understand and appreciate the full range of outcomes, both the gains and the losses, so they can make informed decisions. Balancing growth with stability, in his view, is not about choosing one over the other, but about building a proactively managed plan to handle both the good years and difficult ones.
What would a client expect from me as their financial advisor?
When asked about leadership, Andrew often flips the question back on himself by asking an important question, “What would a client expect from me as their financial advisor?” He answers, “They would want me to fully understand their goals, financially and personally, and to treat their money as if it were my own while respecting their choices and tolerance for risk.” He poses the same question to his team at Samalin Wealth: what would be expected of them? Instead of following a corporate agenda, like full-service securities firms that provide investment banking and broker-dealer services, advisors at Samalin Wealth are encouraged to let their own answers guide how they build relationships and address each client’s needs and objectives. In his experience, teams using this approach tend to form stronger, more genuine relationships with clients, because the advisors themselves are more curious and better able to relate to the various clients who engage Samalin Wealth.
Building a strong finance team, in Andrew’s experience, requires more than formal financial training. He looks for team members who bring knowledge and experience from outside the world of finance as well. He finds little value in a conversation with someone who has no interests or life experience beyond the office. This does not diminish the importance of ongoing professional development and technical study. Rather, it speaks to the ability to connect with other people and hold a conversation on a wide range of subjects, not only business.
For young professionals entering the finance industry today, Andrew’s advice centers on differentiation. He encourages newcomers to think about what sets them apart, not only from other job candidates but also from artificial intelligence tools that can now perform many technical tasks. He believes strong grades alone are not enough to stand out. Every person needs to find something unique they bring to the table, and Andrew leaves it to each individual to figure out what that differentiator will be. He believes that curiosity, empathy, and the ability to build real trust with people will only grow in value as more technical tasks become automated.
Looking ahead, he expects the industry will benefit from a stronger focus on serving others in a clear and genuine way. He sees this outward-facing approach as the foundation for sustainable growth, noting that many professionals tend to focus inward on their own goals rather than outward on the people they serve. He compares this to the teachers and coaches people remember most fondly, the ones who genuinely cared about their progress and took the time to help them improve. Surrounding yourself with people who do the same for their clients and colleagues, he says, leads to success for everyone involved.
Put the client first, communicate clearly, and treat every dollar as if it were your own.
Andrew is optimistic about the future of both his firm and the finance industry. For more than three decades in the industry, Andrew Samalin has built Samalin Wealth around a philosophy to always put the client first, communicate clearly, and treat every dollar as if it were your own. As the industry continues to change around him, from new technology to new market cycles, that foundation is what he expects will continue to guide his firm and the clients it serves for years to come.