Drew Hawkins, the notable financial advisor who founded and led Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Global Sports and Entertainment division, resurfaced Wednesday. After little public presence for more than a year, Hawkins told WealthManagement.com he has launched and is president of Edyoucore Sports & Entertainment, a business, financial and lifestyle consultant to professional athletes and entertainers.
In November 2017, Hawkins left Morgan Stanley, where he was in charge of the elite group of advisors who cater specifically to professional athletes, actors, musicians and other creatives. The division had $35 billion in assets under management and 80 directors around the country, according to a November 2016 report. He spent 28 years in financial services beginning with Dean Witter Reynolds, the brokerage firm that eventually became part of Morgan Stanley.
Hawkins said he had a "great experience" at Morgan Stanley and left the wealth manager to spend time with his family. He planned to take time off from work but found a life of playing golf and "staring at the water" didn't suit him. By February 2018, he was already thinking of business ideas and talking to others about what would become Pasadena, Md.-based Edyoucore Sports & Entertainment, he said.
The consultant offers two distinct services. Through college athletic departments, it visits and delivers financial education to student athletes and provides online programs and materials. The company is also in talks with multiple professional sport leagues and player associations to provide similar services.
Beyond the educational programming, Edyoucore Sports & Entertainment also acts as a one-on-one consultant to individual athletes and entertainers, which Hawkins said has garnered a lot of interest. He and his team teach individual clients about relevant financial products and services through their Financial Education Analysis Training (F.E.A.T.) program, coach them on choosing advisors to support them and help them evaluate private investments. The company is not a wealth manager, and it does not refer clients, he said.
“We don’t manage money, we don’t sell any financial products, and we are not agents,” Hawkins said. “We are purely here to empower these individuals.”
Alongside Hawkins are some recognizable names.
Donald Dell, a senior advisor at Edyoucore and adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, is a Hall of Fame tennis player who founded ProServ and is one of the most influential agents in sports. He's negotiated over $3 billion in contracts, representing the likes of Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing.
Keva Sturdevant, director of financial education at Edyoucore, spent time as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and later founded Sturdevant Investment Consulting. Director of Client Services Mitch Horan also came from the brokerage industry and has three decades of experience, including stints at Prudential and Morgan Stanley.
Kevin Anderson, another senior advisor at Edyoucore, was the athletic director at West Point from 2004 to 2010 where he was responsible for 25 intercollegiate teams, managed a $25 million budget and oversaw 200 employees.
Actor, singer and producer Tamara Tunie; Bart Scott, who played in the NFL for 10 years and is now a broadcaster; and Antoine Walker, who played in the NBA for 13 years and is also a broadcaster, are also working with Edyoucore.
“I give others credit. I think the leagues and the associations have been trying a variety of things for a long time," Hawkins said. “We want to truly change the game and want to change the narrative, and we’ve put together a process and approach that we think is historically different than what was offered in the past.”