Ep. 12: Building Trust Through Transparency and Risk: Lessons from Market Losses with Larry Kriesmer
What happens when trust in the financial system collapses inside your own family?
In this episode, Measured Risk Portfolios Chairman and Chief Compliance Officer Larry Kriesmer shares the story that shaped his lifelong commitment to transparency, risk management, and investor education. After witnessing his father lose nearly everything due to financial fraud following early retirement, Larry saw firsthand how devastating broken trust can be.
He reflects on how that experience guided his approach through the tech bubble, the 2008 financial crisis, and ultimately into building structured, math-based investment strategies designed to limit catastrophic loss. This conversation explores how trust falls, how it can be rebuilt, and why better often requires being different.
What You’ll Learn:
Why catastrophic financial loss can permanently change how people relate to risk and trust.
How the tech bubble and 2008 financial crisis exposed the limits of traditional diversification.
The real role options play in modern risk management.
Why education is one of the strongest trust builders in financial advising.
How mathematical structure can reduce emotional panic during market downturns.
What synthetic equity is and why it was created.
The difference between trusting people vs. trusting systems and transparency.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“Different isn’t always better, but better is always different.” - Larry Kriesmer
“Math is not going to let us down. And that's what this story's really about.” - Larry Kriesmer
“If it does well, we'll do well. If it does poorly, we'll do kind of poorly. If it does really bad, we won't be really bad.” - Larry Kriesmer
About Larry Kriesmer:
Larry Kriesmer, CLU, ChFC, is the Chairman and Chief Compliance Officer at Measured Risk Portfolios, a registered investment advisory firm he co-founded in 2007. After growing frustrated with traditional portfolio diversification and exposure to large losses, Larry set out to build a more controlled, risk-managed investment approach rooted in structure and transparency.
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Larry now lives in Rancho Santa Fe with his wife, Carol, where they enjoy travel, outdoor sports, fine wine, and international cuisine.
Resources:
Follow Larry:
LinkedIn: Larry Kriesmer
Follow Anne:
LinkedIn: Anne Claessen
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