NFL referee Shawn Hochuli doubles as LPL-affiliated monetary advisor

Not many monetary advisors can say they’ve a facet job that places them on tv screens watched by hundreds of thousands of Americans every week. 

The longtime NFL referee has spent greater than twenty years in monetary companies, serving to construct IWM Partners, an LPL Financial-affiliated wealth management observe in Irvine, California. On Sundays throughout soccer season, he trades his financial planning work for zebra stripes and a whistle, following within the footsteps of his dad, Ed Hochuli, who famously officiated NFL games for 27 years till retiring in 2018. 

Shawn Hochuli has been an NFL official since 2014 and have become a referee in 2018. He has worked nearly 200 regular-season games and 10 playoff video games, together with the 2025 NFC Championship Game. Regulatory filings present Hochuli has been registered with LPL since 2005.

According to the web site for IWM Partners, the agency companies greater than $500 million of AUM by way of LPL Financial, and its crew spans six LPL monetary advisors plus two assist workers. IWM Partners was shaped in 2004 by Michael Hernandez and Hochuli, who have been beforehand each advisors at Morgan Stanley.  

Services promoted by IWM embody capital allocation administration, monetary planning, retirement and estate planning, insurance coverage, tax methods, cash-flow evaluation, and investor psychology. 

“As I started my profession as a monetary advisor after faculty, I additionally started officiating the game which has at all times been a ardour of mine; soccer,” reads Hochuli’s IWM Partners bio. “My path within the officiating planet has lengthy been paralleled to that of my monetary planning planet, as so lots of the similar qualities of character, integrity, accountability, and work ethic are essential to achieve success at both.” 

The case for athlete advisors

Before stepping into officiating, Shawn performed faculty soccer at Pitzer College, and his dad was a linebacker on the University of Texas at El Paso from 1969–72. Louis Diamond, CEO of advisor recruiting agency Diamond Consultants, additionally notes the traits that make athletes a natural fit to become financial advisors. 

“We see a variety of former athletes come into the industry, they usually are usually enticing candidates for companies,” Diamond instructed InvestmentNews. “They’re team-oriented, hardworking, self-motivated, and used to being coached. Business growth normally comes slightly simpler too as a result of folks wish to meet them.” 

NFL referees reportedly make $385,000 on average per season in compensation and advantages as a part of the brand new seven-year collective bargaining settlement signed by the NFL and NFL Referees Association. Advisors might get a notoriety increase from a high-profile second job, however Diamond cautions that the visibility benefit is restricted.

“Visibility isn’t an alternative choice to competence,” mentioned Diamond. “Prospects might take the decision out of curiosity, however they rent the advisor who understands their state of affairs and may ship. The ones who make it work deal with the second profession as an introduction, not your complete technique.” 

Hochuli declined to remark for this story, citing NFL guidelines that restrict his interview availability throughout the season. A spokesperson for LPL didn’t reply to outreach from InvestmentNews looking for remark. 

“The sensible problem is capability. If you’re gone each fall weekend, the observe has to run with out you, which suggests having a powerful crew behind you is important,” added Diamond.  

Hochuli and Hernandez are joined at IWM by fellow advisors Barbara Stowell, Jim Jones, Clifford Neill, and Nicholas Lupo, in accordance with the agency’s web site. Lucy Sandoval serves as an administrative affiliate with Vienna Gusha as operations supervisor.  

IWM Partners will not be the primary LPL-affiliated agency with ties to the NFL. In 2023, former NFL participant turned monetary advisor Digger Bujnoch joined a firm affiliated with LPL.  

“It makes a variety of sense as a result of it provides advisors entry to the community that Shawn [Hochuli] has {of professional} gamers,” mentioned monetary advertising and marketing marketing consultant April Rudin, founding father of The Rudin Group. “They have a really brief window the place they’re incomes some huge cash, after which they must make that cash final over time.” 

Family industry for Hochuli 

RIAs like Americana Partners and Factory Capital launched divisions this 12 months centered on serving athletes, with related practices additionally provided by UBS, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan. U.S. Bank introduced a multi-year deal in April to develop into the NFL’s official bank and wealth management sponsor, with former NFL player Steven Israel hired by the bank as a wealth administration marketing consultant.  

Rudin says the cadence of being a monetary advisor can usually lend itself to balancing a second job or ardour venture. But it might additionally simply be in Hochuli’s blood. Shawn’s dad Ed balanced being a founding companion of the law firm Jones, Skelton & Hochuli throughout his almost three many years of being a part-time NFL official. 

“You can have what’s referred to as a portfolio profession, so one or two careers on the similar time,” mentioned Rudin. “It’s a really moveable profession. You can onboard as many purchasers as you need. You’re capable of form of be your individual boss, relying on the agency.”