An early vision, a tight knit family, and a dream.

Tom Anderton and Brant Shrimplin, partners at 626 Financial and first cousins, dreamed of starting their own business early on. Brant’s father and Tom’s uncle, Robert, who had been in the financial services industry since the 1970’s, piqued their interest in finance at a young age. Brant got his first taste of the stock market by owning a single share of Disney stock at age 8, while Tom started investing at 14 and  won the Junior Achievement Michigan Stock Market Challenge at age 16!

Brant eventually moved from the Midwest to the financial district of NYC at age 21 to work for Fahnestock, which would later become Oppenheimer and Co., Inc. Tom joined Oppenheimer shortly after, but not before finishing near the top of his class in Finance at the University of Florida and going on to get his MBA at the University of Chicago.

After living on both coasts and getting valuable perspectives of how business is done across the country, Tom and Brant would eventually move back to Kalamazoo, MI, a small yet diverse town in the heart of the Midwest. While both envisioned living in the big city, the opportunity to live close to family was more important.

Both joined established teams at a nationwide brokerage firm, but the desire for independence and creating a customized approach for their clients remained. 6/26/2009 marked a very important date for the family and their long-term clients, as Robert (Bob) and Brant officially opened the doors to 626 Financial, and were later joined by Tom and his team.

Now many years and evolutions later – 626 Financial encompasses a talented team of advisors and support staff with a nationwide network of clientele. This unique community of clients includes like-minded business owners, executives and driven professionals – those who have also worked hard to make their childhood dreams a reality.