Michael Wallin tries to live out his faith with similar advice that he gives to clients at his investment firm: “Make Christ proud with your decisions.”
Wallin has moved up the ranks of the investment world and has had many impressive professional roles over the years. But his place right now–as managing partner at Franklin-based Optivise Advisory Services, through their affiliated company, PanthRex Asset Management, –is right where he says Christ wants him to be: encouraging other Christ followers to be wise with their money and their lives.
A Christ-Honoring Business
In 2014, Mr. Wallin partnered with CPA Allen Hargis to co-found PanthRex Asset Management, an investment firm, and Grace Global Alliance, LLC, a 501(c)(3) association of churches with the inititative to bring retirement and investment services to believers in a manner consistent with biblical principles.
In fact, the name of Wallin’s business comes directly from Scripture.
PanthRex is the combination of the Greek and Latin names Panthera Leo (Lion) and Rex (King).
“PanthRex came from the knowledge the Lion of Judah is Christ and we believe that everything we have belongs to Him” Wallin explained. “PanthRex and Optivise are His companies and He has given us the great opportunity and responsibility to steward them in a manner that is honoring to Him. We believe in honoring God by the way we steward the resources He entrusts to us.”
Wallin said that his past professional experiences challenged him to provide people with a unique perspective on investment and money management; he said, “most Christians rarely had an understanding into the companies their money was being invested. For many Christian investors, they are invested into companies they would not be proud to own.”
When he co-founded PanthRex Asset Management, he found the opportunity to change that.
“Years ago I was working as an executive vice president at an organization I’d been at for nine years, and God placed a word on my heart and a mission to achieve,” he said. “God told me to ‘go serve those people who are serving my kingdom.’ It was not in my plans to leave that organization, but God kept giving me that message.”
He realized that he, and so many other Christians in his position, were advising people to put their money in investment models that didn’thonor God; they were investing into companies that by product, service, or philanthropy did not align with their closely-held beliefs.
“There’s gotta be a better way,” he told himself. “So now we look at a Company’s product, their service, and philanthropy and we use tools to screen those companies out of our investment solutions so that our investors can be confident in their investment decisions. If God gives us resources, then why are we investing in companies that don’t support our Christian faith?”
Wallin said that his company’s goal is to educate people on the decisions they make with their money, so that they can make wise, Christ-like investments while also providing for their future.
“Our job is to bring light into darkness, to educate, and to bring awareness,” he said. “And then we want to prepare people with tools and resources to help them retire with dignity and to thrive, not just survive, during their retirement years. If one’s cup runneth over, we want forthem to have the opportunity to be even more generous in that season of their lives.”
The company also tries to provide a multi-disciplinary approach in meeting client investment, income, tax, wealth transfer, charitable, and estate needs.
“We don’t want to be one-dimensional,” he said. “We build the overall plan taking into consideration both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of a client’s life and how it matches up with the Word God has given us. You can only get truly comprehensive help with a multi-dimensional approach.”
In a way, he said, it’s a harkening back to a more traditional, family-style business model.
“We take the family office approach, realizing that Main Street needs to be provided with services as much as Wall Street,” Wallin said.
Family and Faith
Wallin’s own family journey has been filled with blessings and opportunities.
Originally from Chickamauga, Georgia, he graduated from Austin Peay University in 1993 and moved to Nashville in 1997 with his business at the time. He and his wife, Tarryn, have two daughters–a 15-year-old and 9-year-old –and they’re all active in the faith community. As a part of community outreach, Tarryn enjoys singing with her daughters at local nursing homes, women’s events, and local venues.
His wife, in fact, is a professional singer and songwriter and has written two hit songs in the Southern Gospel arena. Several years ago, she co-wrote Tonja Rose’s number one Country Inspirational song called “I Found Life”, and her co-written song “Expecting Good Things” was the title cut of Jeff and Sheri Easter’s Grammy and Dove-nominated album. She also releases her own music as an independent artist under her professional name, Tarryn Aimée.
“She’s incredibly talented,” Wallin said. “Her song “Expecting Good Things” was also performed live by the Easter’s on Bill and Gloria Gaither’s Homecoming CD and DVD set called “Majesty”.
Together they try to model Christ’s example in their family. Wallin said they are very involved in their children’s lives (he’s a community coach for his daughter’s sports teams, and they support their children’s interest in the arts). “We love to give back to the community,” he said.
And in their home life, they stress the importance of making God the center of their conversations.
“We make God part of everything, all of our family discussions and time together,” he said. “We lean on God for discernment and guidance, striving to put God first.”
The key to keeping Christ central in family life, he said, is balance.
“We’ve always tried to have balance in our lives,” Wallin explained. “Yes, we’re attending church, but we’re bringing the message home and into our lives. We ask ourselves, ‘how do we demonstrate what we believe?’ To do that you need balance.”
He added that Christians–and families–need to have a “plumb line” to fall back on when things get hard.
“Getting back up after you fall is easier when you have a plumb line to get back to. If you have a set of rules in your life, it’s a lot easier to find your way back,” he said. “We need a relationship with Christ, but if you don’t have that place to direct you it won’t work.”
Wallin said that he looks forward to the reward for that faithfulness, as his own children grow up to have successful families of their own.
“Hopefully, I’ll hear my kids impart that same wisdom to my grandkids someday,” he said.
Wallin said that he often reflects on the trajectory his personal life, family life, and career have traveled over the years. Where he’s at now, he said, is a culmination of lessons learned; it’s validation from God that he’s moved and is still moving in the right direction.
“My life and career have been on these different levels throughout my life,” he said. “First I was in a learning season, then an elevation season, and now I’m in a season of service.”
The Bottom Line
As Wallin looks to the future as a husband, father, business owner, and Christian, he plans on continuing to teach the lessons he’s found are true in all of those areas.
He has hope that he and his partner’s company will continue to grow, as they lead Christians to a new understanding of money management. Ultimately, he wants Christians to know that it’s okay if they’ve invested money unwisely in the past–everything in life, he said, is a learning lesson.
“Individuals don’t need to be ashamed that they don’t know things, or that they haven’t ever thought about where their money’s going,” he said. “We’re trying to educate people, and teach them how to be a good steward of their resources.”
The investment sector can be one driven by greed, but it can also be about who Christians look to as their source–and how that knowledge can change their attitude toward money.
“Our mindset is that investing should be with a purpose. Is my plan kingdom focused?” Wallin asked. “My entire life…not just financial, and not just family…should be aligned with God’s kingdom plan.”
Ultimately, it all points to the truth that you can’t outgive God. “Blessings”, Wallin said, “all blessings come from God; in return, Christians need to be generous, servant-minded, and knowledgeable about how best to honor His kingdom with their resources.”
“If you truly believe God is your source, you can’t outgive God.”
cherylswray@gmail.com , Author, Freelance Writer, Speaker This Is My Story
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