John P. Smallwood is one of the best known and most successful independent financial advisors in New Jersey today. The 63-year-old Bergen County native has built a practice – and a reputation – of enhancing and protecting the wealth of his clients over many years, peers say. Indeed, in a field full of nominally experienced brokers and consultants, Smallwood stands out: With nearly four decades in the field, more than half that time leading his own firm (today he is partners with his 37-year-old son John L. Smallwood), Smallwood is one of the profession’s best examples of accomplishment, integrity – and long-term stability.

Peers in the field say Smallwood is wise yet personable, and remarkably passionate about his work. At his office white-board, he’ll patiently outline concepts and scenarios for literally hours at a time, with a professorial manner that’s at once practical, direct and authoritative. Growing up in Wyckoff, N.J., the energetic Smallwood says “a career in money wasn’t the first thing on my mind.” But majoring in economics at St. Bonaventure (“I learned to love it”), he netted a memorable task: An economic analysis of a lobster farm on the Caribbean island of Antigua. “Not a bad project for a kid interested in demand curves. Aquaculture was a little ahead was a little ahead of its time back then.” After two years with CIT Financial, he was recruited by the insurer Connecticut General (now CIGNA), and was immersed in the high-quality training major insurers are renowned for.

By his own estimation, Smallwood says his greatest asset is communicating the complexities of investment approaches and products – “Explaining what the risks are, and are not, of every possible approach. Understanding creates a comfort level.” Over the years with a major firm, Smallwood found himself “pushed up into management – but in our business that’s the kiss of death.” So, confident and already well regarded, he launched in the early 1980s his own firm, Smallwood Capital, focusing on wealth management and financial planning. A few years later Smallwood relocated his firm to Monmouth County, in part “because it’s where the growth is” and because as a lifelong boater he wanted to closer to the New Jersey Shore.

While his son plays a key role in the firm today, the senior Smallwood, a Certified Investment Management Consultant, is hardly looking to slow down. “Retire? I’m just starting to get good at this.” Today he and his wife MaryAnn live in nearby Tinton Falls, New Jersey, with family close by. “You know what’s great about grandchildren? They’re your second chance in life.”

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