Vice President of Investments and Client Services
Email Sean Grote
Phone: (763) 201-1025
Education
- B.B.A., University of Minnesota Duluth, Financial Markets Finance
- Certified Financial Planner (CFP®)
It’s Ironic, I Hated Investments as a Kid
As a young kid, I hated investments. Every year when I would receive Christmas or birthday cards with money, a portion (if not all) would be automatically placed in an investment account for me. And over the years, I never wanted to see my investments or have anything to do with them. I can even remember sprinting out of the kitchen to escape my parents as they began to show me how my Christmas and birthday money was growing. Again, I hated investments.
Looking back, it’s ironic what I love to do and the direction my career has taken. I graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) in 2020, GO BULLDOGS, with a degree in Financial Markets. During my entire senior year, I and 15 other senior students managed a student-run investment portfolio valued at around $2.5 million. After graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic, I joined Paradigm in the summer of 2020 as an associate advisor, hungry to learn about how I could help our clients achieve their goals. Instantly, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping other people achieve financial success. To further assist our clients with more advanced financial planning needs, I became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional in 2022. To obtain this designation, a CFP® professional must meet rigorous education, training, and ethical standards and are committed to serving their clients’ best interests today to prepare them for a more secure tomorrow.
Why I Love My Job
While I do enjoy investing now, it’s not my favorite part of the job. I love the meaningful relationships the Paradigm team has built over the years with our clients. And as a multigenerational firm, it’s rewarding to serve children, grandchildren, and even some great-grandchildren at the same time! We take pride in our work, helping clients achieve their goals through thoughtful and well-structured plans. Outside of the clients, I also enjoy the Paradigm team. Our clients do not have a single advisor serving them; they have the whole team. This concept allows each team member to get to know each client on a personal level. The team concept also allows our team to collaborate on every client’s situation, utilizing each team member’s strengths. It’s a lot of fun. Because Paradigm is a multigenerational firm, we are building out our next generation. As part of that plan, I became a part owner of Paradigm in 2024. Needless to say, I’ll be around here until I’m kicked out!
Outside of Paradigm
When I am not meeting with our clients or helping them achieve their goals, I’m working to achieve mine! A major milestone in those goals was marrying my beautiful wife Melanie in 2023 and purchasing our first home together in 2024. We currently live in Monticello and love to go for walks around the neighborhood, spend time at the lake, and travel to the National Parks. As a native of southern Wisconsin, you’ll still see me sporting green and gold on Sundays, much to my wife’s disgust. If it’s any consolation to the Minnesota sports team faithful, however, I root for the Twins. I guess you could say my sports teams are diversified, just like my investments.