Employee Spotlight | Paresh Kamdar

Aimee: How did you come to Merriman?

Paresh: While working at Charles Schwab as a Private Client Relationship Manager, I was helping clients find RIA firms that were a good fit for their personality. What I found was that the clients I sent to Merriman were happier, they never came back to me for another referral. I went to see Paul Merriman speak several times, and 13 years ago on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Jeff Merriman, Paul Merriman’s son, called and asked me to come to Merriman.

Aimee: Why did you say yes?

Paresh: I primarily came for the investment philosophy and after talking to clients who worked with Merriman, I felt there was a better way to measure client success than just the performance of funds.

Aimee: You are quite the adventurer, what’s the next adventure you are going on?

Paresh: My next vacation is a back-country skiing trip to the Valkyr Lodge in British Columbia with our best friends; it’s my favorite week of the year. We have been taking trips like this for 13 years now. We take a helicopter to access the Lodge and then spend the week connecting with friends, climbing and skiing. We bring in all our food and gear and every night we make dinner together. We are completely “off the grid” (and no WIFI) for the week.  The wood stove in the sauna heats up the water for a hot shower and we do have a satellite phone for weather information or emergencies.

Aimee: What is your favorite activity on a day off?

Paresh: That is seasonally dependent, but I like skiing, backpacking, climbing, and mountain biking with friends.

Aimee: Tell me about your family.

Paresh: My wife, Sibylle is a veterinarian. We have a dog, Bodie and he is a great little guy. We go camping with him a lot.  We’re also fortunate to have my folks, my brother, his wife, and their boys here in town.  We get to spend a lot of time together.

Aimee: Does your dog, Bodie, love to go camping?

Paresh: It’s probably more for our amusement. I think for him, his morning walk is the best.

Aimee: What’s your favorite food?

Paresh: It’s Pho season now! I am a lover of Vietnamese soup, ramen and tacos!

Aimee: What’s your favorite quote?

Paresh: Part of Attitude by Chuck Swindoll. “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life… Attitude is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people say or do…We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing you can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”