John Wade started out a year ago to create a friendly financial advising environment for the GLBT community when he launched Freedom Financial.

He was so successful in fact that his client base grew faster than he expected, and wanted more services than he could provide. It was that in mind that he has closed Freedom Financial to move to one of the world's largest financial planning and wealth management firms, UBS.

"The business entity of Freedom Financial is gone," Wade said. "However, what made Freedom Financial still exists. And that is the partnership I develop with my clients to ensure as best as possible that their goals for financial freedom become a reality."

Wade, who has more than 13-years experience in lending, bank management, investments and insurance sales, said he will continue to do what he loves and he says many of his clients need - that is real, one-on-one financial planning. He will continue in his role as a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner with UBS.

"That will not change," he said. "While a lot of my clients need the basic coaching Freedom Financial provided, many need more services than I offered, services such as money management, investments, insurance, 401(k)roll-overs, etc."

Wade said he researched to see if Freedom Financial could provide those services, and determined that the possibilities were cost prohibitive.

"Many former, independent advisors have been put out of business recently by compliance costs alone," he said. "Rather than spend energy trying to reinvent the wheel, I chose a firm that can provide everything my clients could ever need. I am the first to say that I am surprised by how the business has grown and caused me to make recent choices as soon as I had to."

Wade said UBS was excited about his business plan, and the fact that he specializes in working with GLBT clients.

"That is something no one else in Tennessee is currently doing, at least actively and publicly as I am," he said. "I have the freedom to continue building my business with the clients I want and the way my clients and I feel is best for them.  It certainly helps that UBS scored 100 on HRC's Corporate Equality Index."

Wade said the decision to leave his own company and go with UBS was a tough decision, one that he carefully explored.

"This opportunity provides the best option for current and future clients as well as for my business," he said. "For those not familiar, UBS is one of the most respected names in the industry and the largest financial services firm in the world and one of the largest in the US. Locally, the firm originated as J C Bradford and Company which merged with Paine Weber before being acquired by UBS. I have been blessed to have made Freedom Financial a successful venture.  I owe all of my clients and friends a great deal of gratitude for playing a large role in my success. The faith they have in me to refer me to friends, colleagues and clients is something for which I am very grateful."

You can reach Wade by email at john.wade@ubs.com