CFP, CKA, APMA
MANAGING PARTNER, SENIOR WEALTH ADVISOR
President of Business Development, USA
In 2009, Ed Shaffer jumped into the deep end with a longtime mentor and spent more than seven years honing his instincts as a financial advisor in Pennsylvania. Before long he realized the company was in cruise control mode rather than growth mode, and he followed his extended family to Charleston for a change of scenery on all fronts. From that time to 2023, he worked for another company and began leaning into equity structure, keen to work with entrepreneurial spirits. But the company he was with at the time didn’t share the same drive.
Now leading Eastport’s US expansion, Shaffer’s innate creativity as a financial advisor finds an environment that values freedom, sheds constraints, and matches the most ideal solution to every client’s unique needs.
“The big firms have a shelf of tools you can use to serve clients. Investment products, tax planning tools, estate structures. These are what you have to pick from,” he explains. “But invariably you meet a client with niche needs. At big firms, there’s a disconnect between corporate headquarters and the client, and I had to put square pegs into round holes. They sacrifice flexibility, and I’m very excited to not have those limitations in place.”
Between the global political climate, the rapid maturation of AI, and industries still reeling from the disruption of the digital age, we are entering what may be the most turbulent season in our lifetimes. For individual clients to navigate such a volatile world—one as vibrant with opportunities as it is risks—Shaffer suggests the key is to root your financial life within your spiritual life.
“Scriptures teach us to be stewards,” he says. “To help people keep steady around money in their hearts, I hold to age-old principles: stay away from debt, save for the future, and be generous. I know how challenging it is to live with spiritual purpose in a consumerist world. So let’s walk out of the ditch together.”
It’s a mantra threaded into Eastport’s daily culture, which Shaffer recognized as rare: generosity plus genuine excellence. Nobody wants to be outworked, and everybody does their part well—all oriented around hearts and families.