Michael Koenig

CFP®

FirsTrust, LLC

Managing Partner / Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Michael Koenig

CFP®

FirsTrust, LLC

Managing Partner / Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

FIRST, find someone you can TRUST. - Michael Koenig, CFP®

(386) 788-3737

Fee-Only Financial Planner Located in Daytona Beach, FL and Serving Clients Nationwide

Michael Koenig is a Daytona Beach, FL fee-only financial planner.  FirsTrust LLC provides comprehensive wealth management, investment management, and trust and estate management to help clients organize, grow and protect their assets through life’s transitions. As a fee-only, fiduciary, and independent financial advisor, Michael Koenig is never paid a commission of any kind, and has a legal obligation to provide unbiased and trustworthy financial advice.

Michael Koenig is the original founder of FirsTrust.

Michael's dad was a rising corporate executive. Promotions and relocations occurred every two to three years, and adapting to new environments was just a way of life for the Koenig family. But through these transient, formative years, Michael was a daily witness to the faithful determination it took for a father of three to ascend the Fortune 500 ranks without ever missing a Little League baseball game, a violin recital, or church on Sunday.  

To those who knew him best, it came as no surprise when Mike graduated top-of-class from a military-staffed prep school but declined invitations to military academies for a path into the business world. He chose to attend the University of Maryland where he could obtain his bachelor’s degree while continuing his AAU Boxing career on the university’s intercollegiate team and serve in private duty law enforcement after hours and during summer recess.

Mr. Koenig’s career in finance began right after college graduation in 1987 when he was recruited by a large, international financial service corporation to participate in their 3-year Management Training Program. By the end of his training, however, Mike realized that “financial planning” was primarily being used as a sales tool, and his efforts to serve the best interests of his clients had actually been serving a Wall Street profit agenda. This revelation would forever shape his career direction and philosophy.

Mike resigned from his position and enrolled in the two-year professional master’s program at George Washington University, where he completed the educational requirements to become a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®). Simultaneously, he was developing his own company in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia; by 1992, Congressional Financial Corporation had grown to more than 65 advisors and was recognized among “Who’s Who in Business and Finance” as one of the largest independent, fee-based financial planning firms throughout the Maryland, D.C., and Virginia region.

In 1993, Mike was approached by the president of a national credit union association in Florida and offered a two-year contract to create their fee-based financial planning division. He relocated to Orlando and began planting his professional roots in Central Florida.

Mike  has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP) and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners (ICFP). He has been admitted to the Practitioner Division of the IAFP and recognized on the ICFP's exclusive Registry of CFP Licensed Practitioners. 

1995 saw the birth of FirsTrust, LLC, which originally began in Orlando as the FirsTrust Advisory Council and continues today as a “FinancialTeam” of Fee-Only advisors who are completely independent of any Wall Street influence.  

Although today’s financial service community cleverly flaunts the term “fee-based,” and many professionals have finally chosen a path of independence, fewer than 5% have taken the “fee-only” oath of objectivity to refuse sales commissions and marketing incentives. Mr. Koenig adamantly contends that independence means nothing without objectivity. 

Today, Mr. Koenig serves as CEO and Managing Partner of FirsTrust. He is a Certified Financial Planner certificant (CFP®), a Registered Financial Advisor with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and an Associate of the American Bar Association (ABA) who, for the past 20+ years, has completed at least 25 continuing education credit hours every year at The Heckerling Institute through the University of Miami School of Law.  

Throughout his career, Mike has been an outspoken and prolific advocate for eliminating conflicts of interest in the financial service industry. He has spent time in Washington D.C. advocating for stricter financial consumer protections to members of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee and pleading the case to prohibit third-party incentives for financial “advisors” to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

Mr. Koenig has been published in The Washington PostUSA Todaythe Orlando SentinelThe Daytona Beach News JournalDow Jones Newswires and the Journal of Financial Planning. He has also served as a financial columnist for several consumer publications, including the "Money Matters" feature in the Orlando Sentinel, and the "Financial Q&A" column in At Home Magazine. Mike also created the “Financial Prescriptions” segment for the Volusia County Medical Society quarterly journal, authored “Sensible Solutions” for Seniors Today Magazine and was a regularly featured financial expert in Mature Lifestyles magazine.

Mike continues his activities with USA Boxing as a Certified Coach and Supervising Official of referees and judges at U.S. Olympic-sanctioned boxing competitions.

Michael Koenig is a Member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors - highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

NAPFA members live by three important values:

  • To be the beacon for independent, objective financial advice for individuals and families.
  • To be the champion of financial services delivered in the public interest.
  • To be the standard bearer for the emerging profession of financial planning.

Who does YOUR financial advisor work for?

We know better than to believe the world's best financial choices are all under one roof at the bank or brokerage down the street - because we've been there.

We are former brokers, bankers, Wall Street traders and financial executives; from private firms to some of the world's largest institutions; serving all types of clients, some with over $100 million per family. But somewhere along the way, each of us had a career-changing moment of conflict when we realized the size of our paychecks was dependent upon our willingness to “recommend” the things that were most profitable for our employers.

The Morgans and Rockefellers didn’t invest with a bank or brokerage. They hired the best talent they could find, assembled their own Financial Team, and paid the Team a fee to represent the family’s best interests. Their financial advisors didn't work for an institution, they worked for the family. 

In 1994, the founder of FirsTrust had a vision of providing this Family Office style of competence and objectivity to clients of all sizes without the Wall Street profit margins; without being handcuffed to an employer's "platform" of investment choices; and without compromising our objectivity with commissions, sales incentives or competing agendas.

Today, our independent technologies allow FirsTrust Advisors to objectively shop & compare financial opportunities on a wholesale basis - across the globe and from multiple institutional platforms - to find solutions that serve our clients’ best interests.

We don't work for a financial institution. We work directly for our clients; and our only financial incentive is to help them achieve their goals.

Fee-Only, Fiduciary, Independent: Three Important Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Financial Advisor.

Specialties

  • Comprehensive Financial Planning
  • Retirement Income Planning
  • Investment Management
  • College Education Planning
  • Tax Planning

Ideal Clients

  • Retirees and Near Retirees
  • Growing Families
  • Business Owners and Executives
  • Sudden Money Situations
  • Novice Investors

Working Together

  • In-Office Meetings
  • Virtual Meetings
  • Clearly Defined Fees
  • No Product Sales
  • Complimentary Initial Consultation

Professional Designations & Affiliations

  • National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)
    Michael Koenig is a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor

    The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

  • Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
    Michael Koenig is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional - Click for Verification

    CFP® professionals are held to strict ethical standards to ensure financial planning recommendations are in your best interest. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can use the CFP® designation.

Contact Michael Koenig

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Office Locations:

  • 113 Executive Circle
    Daytona Beach, FL 32114
  • 2385 Executive Center Drive
    Suite 100
    Boca Raton, FL 33431
  • 3030 North Rocky Point Dr.
    Suite 150
    Tampa, FL 33607
  • 121 S. Orange Ave.
    Orlando, FL 32801
  • 1990 Main Street
    Suite 750
    Sarasota, FL 34236

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