Why One Man Left UBS for a Better Life in Florida

For now and the foreseeable future, New York will continue to be the leader of the financial sector. But as we have learned, you don’t have to be on Wall Street to succeed in this industry.

Evan Rapoport, CEO of HedgeCo Networks, recently lured Brett Langbert away from New York City. With more than 17 years of experience (he spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs and five years at Morgan Stanley; he was also a managing director at UBS), Langbert had become a Wall Street vet.

Rapoport told StreetID that if his company was in New York, “I would be competing with all of the banks, and I think would probably not win out in that battle.”

“But because of the allure down here in Florida and Brett wanting to have a change in his lifestyle and his family’s lifestyle, we were able to bring him down here and hire him and bring him on the team,” he said.

For Langbert, the benefits of moving have been immeasurable.

“When Brett was in New York City and working on Wall Street, he would have to leave his house at 4:30 in the morning from Basking Ridge, New Jersey to drive to New York City,” said Rapoport. “He’d pay the tolls, pay for gas, pay the parking (which was $50 a day or whatever the number was, which was substantial), and then get home late in the evening and never see his kids. So he missed out on a large portion of their childhood because he simply wasn’t there.

“Now, by being in Florida, he’s able to come to work at 8:30, leave at 5:30, his commute is 15 minutes, there are no tolls on the way, and he’s able to enjoy his kids’ childhood. That’s something you can never get back.”

Rapoport said that job seekers “really have to think about that sometimes — is it work to live, is it live to work — and what’s most important to you as a person.

“I think sometimes some of these other factors really become more important than just your geographic location and maybe more money,” he said. “But because of the pickup in taxation [in other states] and the affordable lifestyle down here, you sort of do end up making more money.”

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