Finance/Insurance: JOSEPH W. ‘JOE’ MONTGOMERY
MANAGING DIRECTOR, INVESTMENTS, THE OPTIMAL SERVICE GROUP OF WELLS FARGO ADVISORS, WILLIAMSBURG
Published
Montgomery is crazy for football.
“I think it’s one of the best sports around because of the uniqueness of the camaraderie, the teammates, the working together,” says the former All-American William & Mary football team co-captain who played center under coach Lou Holtz. Montgomery was invited to the Philadelphia Eagles training camp but didn’t make the NFL team’s final cut.
These days, Montgomery thinks not ending up a professional ball player may have been “the luckiest thing that ever happened.” He’s heard too many horror stories of players who developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Instead, Montgomery went to work in Lynchburg for an investment advisory firm managed by a William & Mary alum. After a few years, Montgomery was sent to open a new branch in Williamsburg that became the Optimal Service Group of Wells Fargo Advisors. It has about $18 billion in funds under advisement.
Montgomery is ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ 2022 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list for the southern half of Virginia. He was inducted into the Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame in 2019.
