Nestor vicknair

VMT WEALTH MANAGEMENT, MERRILL LYNCH, HOUSTON ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT: $4.9 BILLION

Hurricane harvey’s havoc couldn’t keep Vicknair, 54, from driving his Jeep through houston’s flooded streets to his downtown office.

“We stayed on top of the markets while checking in with our clients,” he says. “some had evacuated and needed emergency funds, and others even had transactions based elsewhere in the country that still needed to close.”

Such personal attention defines Vicknair’s 25-member practice. five years ago, he met with a client who had terminal cancer, with six months to live. While working on estate planning and discussing his life, the client expressed a wish to talk to his estranged son one last time after a falling-out 30 years prior.

“We ended up finding his son in oregon after three weeks of searching,” says Vicknair. “They talked on a conference call and ended up staying in touch through the rest of the father’s life.”