By Susan McDonald
CENTRAL COAST - Maguire Investments, Inc. this month is celebrating 50 years on the Central Coast. The company’s anniversary celebration is Thursday, on what would be the 92nd birthday of the company’s founder, Albert Maguire.
The investment firm has deep roots in the community, beginning with the company’s founding in Santa Maria in 1958. Many clients and their offspring – some second, third and even fourth generations – have been with the company throughout its history. They come from throughout the Central Coast and are considered “friends.” They have stayed because of the company’s commitment to integrity, ethics and putting the client first.
Al Maguire was dedicated to the local community and well-known for his philanthropy. When he made a $1 million gift to Mission College Prep in 1998, he stipulated the money was for student scholarships only – not for “bricks and mortar.” Upon Maguire’s death in 2000, The Tribune reported, “He never turned anyone down.”
He saw his contributions as a way of giving back. The son of a Boston janitor and one of 12 children, Maguire was able to attend Harvard University, thanks to a benefactor who provided a scholarship. He played on the Harvard football team, and one of his teammates was John F. Kennedy, former President of the United States. Maguire graduated in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in government.
He was one of the Central Coast’s most successful businessmen and helped start Mid-State Bank. He served nearly 40 years on its board of directors, including 30 years as chairman.
He married Nina Cornwell of Santa Maria in 1948 and they had three children, Steve. John and Patricia.
Steve Maguire, who succeeded his father as chairman of Maguire Investments, said his dad built the company on a very simple set of propositions that still hold steady today:
Buy value to get your money’s worth.
Buy quality.
Hold for the long-term
And, in all matters, act in the client’s best interest.
His dad also expressed his views with some of these zingers, Steve recalls:
“Diversification is for cowards.”
“Be happy to pay capital gains taxes.”
“You only need to get rich once. Then you need to stay rich.”
”Buy on bad news. Sell on good news.”
Steve Maguire spent much of his childhood hanging around his dad’s office and joined the firm fresh out of college in 1972. Much has changed since then. The company didn’t have a copy machine, so Steve got creative. He’d put the day’s documents to copy in the basket on his bicycle and rode to the copy shop in town. The company became computerized in the late 1980s.
More examples of the company’s longevity may be found in the 10 employees who have worked there 10 years or more. They are:
Tadashi Aoki – 38 years (just retired)
Steve Maguire – 36 years
George Crosby – 33 years
Carol Abeloe – 31 years
Marc Crosby – 25 years
Becky Griffith - 24 years
Elaine Hartman – 18 years
Chad Silva – 11 years
John-Paul Stornetta – 11years
Darlene Chavez – 10 years
Silva says he sees few changes in investing, but major increases in regulatory burdens, He is most proud of the company’s 50-year foundation of success and his advice for investors is to define their strategy and stick with it.
For more information about Maguire Investments, Inc., contact Steve Maguire at (805) 922-6901.