Steve was born and raised in Salmon Arm, he returned to the city he has always called home in 1984 and entered the life insurance industry with Manulife Financial. As the life insurance industry evolved Steve continued to learn and became more interested and got more involved in the areas of investment and comprehensive financial planning. In 1988 Steve and his 2 business partners created Hammer & Associates and Kootenay Valley Financial Services, then is 1998 H&A did a name change and salmon arm financial Ltd. – SAF was born, SAF was a full-service boutique financial planning and group benefits company. In 2018 SAF was divided into two parts and with SAF maintaining the benefits division with Steve moving the personal Legacy, Wealth, Tax, & Protection planning into his new company SAFE Wealth Planners Inc. – SWP is a full-service Family Office style firm that focuses on Protection & Legacy planning. SWP services the needs of their clients through Steve’s personal abilities and education along with his many long-term relationships with other professionals and firms that he can draw upon to ensure the SWP clients are getting the best and most current advice. Steve continues to stay up to date on the changing tax & estate planning through industry conferences, maintaining relationships with other professionals and firms, and his ongoing involvement and attendance at the annual with CALU conference.

Steve invests countless hours keeping up on changes coming out of Ottawa as he heads up the Family Wealth planning division of SWP. Steve deals mostly with corporate clients in the area of Wealth, Legacy, Tax, and Succession Planning. Along with his deep knowledge in financial and estate planning he works with some organizations and individuals in the area of Charitable Giving. He is a creative individual that will find the solution that fits best with his client through proper products and structures. There are many solutions, there is always the correct solution that fits the client to generate the tax savings strategies while accomplishing their financial & estate wishes.

Steve’s philosophy is to find out what is important to and what is wanted by the SWP client and then recommend the best solution that matches the wishes of the client.