ABOUT JARROD
Twenty years of markets.
One very clear mission.
I built this firm because I kept watching people invest without a plan. No goals. No framework. No one holding them accountable when the market moved. I knew I could fix that.
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20+
YEARS IN MARKETS
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$94M+
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
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2012
JARROD ADAMS INVESTING FOUNDED
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SERIES 65
LICENSED FIDUCIARY
WHERE IT STARTED
The kid sorting baseball cards
became an investor by accident
It started with a dollar and a pack of baseball cards. I was ten years old, sorting through them at our kitchen table — putting the valuable ones in a protective box, then flipping through the monthly price guide to see if they had gone up. Nobody told me to do that. I just found it interesting.
My dad picked up on it. He started talking to me about his 401(k) — about how the market would fall, and how he would keep putting money in, and how it would always come back higher. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but those conversations laid the foundation for everything I believe about investing today.
By high school I was reading the financial pages. By college I was studying for it. I graduated Magna Cum Laude in Finance from Penn State — and met my wife Shanon there, a fellow finance major who would later become my business partner.
BACKGROUND
Education
B.S. Finance, Penn State University — Magna Cum Laude
Early Career
Market analyst, Wachovia & Bank of America — risk, volatility, P&L reporting
2004
Founded Adams Trading LLC — futures and currency markets
2012
Founded Jarrod Adams Investing LLC — fee-only RIA
Location
Mooresville, NC — Lake Norman area
THE TURN
From trading desks to building something that lasts
After Penn State, I went to work analyzing markets for corporate trading desks at Wachovia and Bank of America — building risk and volatility reports, studying P&L, learning how institutional money moves. It was a fast education in how markets actually work, not how they're explained on cable television.
In 2004 I went out on my own and founded a futures and currency trading firm. As that business grew, something else started happening: clients were asking for more. They wanted to invest, but they had no plan for their portfolio. More importantly, they had no goals for retirement. I found myself doing financial planning alongside trading account management — and realizing that was where I was doing my best work.
“The pattern I kept seeing was the same: people who were smart, successful, and completely winging it when it came to their money. They needed a plan. They needed someone to hold them accountable. That’s when I knew what I was supposed to be building.”
In 2012, Jarrod Adams Investing was born — a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisor built around a simple idea: give people a real financial plan, manage their portfolio with discipline, and be the steady hand when markets get volatile. No commissions. No products to push. Just advice and accountability.
THE TEAM
We are a small dedicated team.
By design.
Shanon Adams is the co-principal and operations lead at JAI. She and I met studying finance at Penn State — and have been working together, in one form or another, ever since. Before joining the firm full-time, Shanon built a career running finance departments for multiple companies in the Charlotte area. She brings an operational precision to the firm that I couldn't replicate on my own.
We run a deliberately small practice. Not because we can't grow larger, but because we don't want to. Every client we take on gets our full attention — not a junior associate, not a call center, not a robo-allocation. When you call, one of us answers.
That boutique model is a feature, not a limitation. It is why our clients stay. And why we rarely have to look for new ones.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
An investment philosophy
built on twenty years of watching what actually works
Markets go up. Markets go down. Most investors underperform because they make emotional decisions at the worst possible times. Our entire approach is built to prevent that.
The plan comes before the portfolio
We don't pick funds first. We build your plan first — retirement date, income needed, tax situation, risk temperament — and then construct a portfolio that serves that plan. The portfolio is a tool, not the destination.
Staying invested is the strategy
World wars, recessions, pandemics, financial crises. Investors who stayed the course through every one of them came out ahead. Timing the market sounds smart. It almost never is. We help you stay in your seat when everything in you wants to get out.
Rebalancing is where discipline pays off
When markets run and your equity allocation drifts above target, we trim. When markets fall and you're underweight equities, we add. This is the opposite of what emotions tell you to do — which is exactly why it works.
Cost is one of the few things you can control
We build portfolios using low-cost, institutional-quality ETFs. Every basis point of unnecessary expense is a permanent drag on compounding. We take that seriously.
Behavioral coaching is the highest-value service we offer
The difference between the return your portfolio earns and the return you actually capture is almost always behavioral. Our job is to close that gap — to be the calm, experienced voice when markets make you want to do something you'll regret.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE FIRM
Shanon Adams — Principal & Director of Operations
Jarrod and Shanon met studying finance at Penn State, and have been building things together ever since. As Principal and Director of Operations at JAI, Shanon is the reason the firm runs the way it does — quietly, precisely, and without things falling through the cracks. She manages every dimension of the client experience behind the scenes: onboarding, account administration, compliance, and the operational infrastructure that lets Jarrod focus on portfolio management and client relationships.
Before joining JAI full-time, Shanon spent years running finance departments for multiple companies in the Charlotte area. She brought that same rigor to the firm. Clients may not always see her work directly, but they feel it — in the responsiveness, the accuracy, and the sense that this firm has its act together.
Shanon and Jarrod live in the Lake Norman area with their family.
Isaac Neidbalson — Associate Advisor
Isaac came to JAI as an intern while finishing his Finance degree at Penn State — the same program Jarrod and Shanon went through — and never really left. After graduating, he joined the firm full-time and earned his Series 65 license, making him JAI's licensed associate advisor.
Two years in, Isaac is Jarrod's right hand. He is deeply analytical, genuinely curious about markets, and fully committed to the investment philosophy that drives this firm — the idea that patient, long-horizon investing and disciplined behavioral coaching matter more than any individual trade. He didn't come here chasing returns. He came here because he believes in the approach.
What clients notice most about Isaac is simpler than any credential: he is a kind person who actually loves helping people. In an industry that doesn't always attract that type, it stands out.
Ready to have a real conversation?
The first step is a no-pressure, 30-minute call. Tell us where you are. We'll tell you if we can help.