In 2008, Laurence Isaac Balter was awarded by Reuters as one of America's Top Registered Investment Advisors for 2008.  His career is a real American business success story.

Laurence fell in love with investing and aviation early in life; with his own money earned while washing airplanes he learned to fly at age 15.  While in a high school Economics class, students were to partake in a stock picking contest.  As is often the case most kids picked the hottest stocks which were being talked about in the media, but Laurence had a knack early on for what he called a "predisposition of not overpaying". He looked for a company that had good products, a strong balance sheet and was highly undervalued.  He was the only student in the class to pick RCA in the Spring of 1986, which at the time was trading at $25 per share.  In the Fall of 1986, GE purchased RCA for $66.50 per share, more than doubling his investment.  Laurence was hooked.

While receiving his B.Sc. in Physics from the University of California, San Diego, he worked as a research assistant to Dr. Sally K Ride (the first female U.S. Astronaut) on Free Electron Laser research, as well as a Research Assistant to Dr. James Arnold (famed cosmochemist and founder of the UC San Diego Chemistry department) on the testing and design of the original gamma ray spectrometer aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, still in orbit over Mars today.  However, he found his calling was finance rather than science, and landed his first job after college as a financial analyst for Hawaiian Airlines at the age of 21. This experience launched his quest into the complex financial and tax issues associated with airlines and heavily regulated industries. 

Armed with knowledge and ambition, he ventured on his own to start a regional airline in Los Angeles. With very humble beginnings, and a rented Cessna, he flew tourists to the Grand Canyon. Fast forward 8 years later and Laurence built Sunshine Airlines into the largest solely owned commercial regional air carrier based in Southern California. He operated 15 commuter aircraft, and became the primary subcontractor freight operator for FedEx and UPS in the region.

While embarking on this growth path, Laurence made an opportunistic lasting connection with the fairly well known, but not yet household name of Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett was a big influence, as that relationship was noted in the December 1997 issue of Fortune Magazine as an early shareholder. 

Laurence's ever increasing curiosity of all things financial and taking complex issues into simple understandable concepts led him to delve into comprehensive financial planning and authoring of his book, "The Power Portfolio" in 2003.  His civic duties include an appointment by Governor Linda Lingle as Transportation Commissioner overseeing the largest operation in the State. He also made time to pursue his other interests as former Board of Director of the Honolulu Symphony.  Laurence balances it all by maintaining true to core values and beliefs of family, good health and having a passion for his pursuits.

Today Laurence is a noted speaker on Hybrid Pension Plans, Quantitative and Behavioral Finance, Rare Earth element research, Emerging Markets and Energy Exploration.  He often flies his own plane (a Cirrus SR22) to various locations across the country to conduct speeches and client visits. In January of 2011, Laurence launched the Oracle Mutual Fund as an extension of his separate account quantitative strategy. 

Laurence is an active member of Angel Flight, a non-profit organization dedicated to transporting patients in his own personal aircraft from small towns to receive medical care at major hospitals.

Governor of the State of Hawaii commendation letter
Hawaii Business Magazine® Top 20 Financial Advisors 2008
Reuters® America's Top Advisor 2008 

Angel Flight - Laurence Balter flies children with cancer to hospitals