Finance | Insurance 2023: LAWRENCE ‘LARRY’ BERNERT III

PRINCIPAL AND PORTFOLIO MANAGER, WILBANKS, SMITH & THOMAS ASSET MANAGEMENT, NORFOLK

Published August 30, 2023 by Virginia Business

From his first job installing toilets at Portsmouth Naval Hospital to becoming principal and portfolio manager at Wilbanks, Smith & Thomas Asset Management, Bernert says his career has been informed by his ability to listen and consider different perspectives.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business MBA grad is a chartered financial analyst who is active in his community, including serving as a board member for the Norfolk Employees’ Retirement System, where he chairs its investment committee; and as chair of the Children’s Health Foundation, which supports the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters.

WST was ranked No. 45 on the 2022 CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list and manages about $4.4 billion in client assets.

PERSONAL MOTTO: Trust your gut!

HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: When my first job after school was eliminated by the recession of 1990, I was lucky that my friends Fleet Smith and Wayne Wilbanks had recently founded our firm and needed an analyst. I signed on and, 30-plus years later, here we are!

    Subscribe to Virginia Business.   Get our daily e-newsletter.