John Guilds is an Attorney and Investment Professional providing integrated wealth management expertise to sophisticated clients looking to grow, protect, and distribute their wealth in a coordinated, pre-planned structure designed to minimize costs and maximize impact according to their intentions. A sophisticated client is not necessarily an already wealthy client; a sophisticated client is a client who appreciates the need for a deliberate game plan and specialized advice for the active creation and preservation of inter-generational wealth. It doesn't just happen on its own!
John holds the Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) professional designation from the Yale School of Management and the Investments & Wealth Institute. In addition, John is dually registered with FINRA as an investment professional (CRD 2453002), able to provide both investment banking and investment advisory services through Heriot-Guilds Private Capital & Investments LLC. John is licensed to practice law in California, New York, South Carolina, and Utah. He earned a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center (Cum Laude) and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Honors). John worked as a transactional attorney in Barcelona, Spain with Bufete Pinto Ruiz and in New York, NY with Latham & Watkins. He has approximately 15 years of experience working as a Project Finance banker in South America, North America, and Australia with Bank of America and MUFG Union Bank.
John's investment philosophy for building wealth centers around a long term buy & hold portfolio heavily weighted in both public and private equity markets. John believes chasing positive alpha in public markets to be a fool's errand, but positive alpha can be obtained in the private markets given the right investment thesis, management team, and deal structure. In his own portfolio, John actively pursues creating positive alpha through private investments in real estate and infrastructure.
John serves on the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Utah Bar; he is a member of the Salt Lake Estate Planning Council.