Khionne Awer entered wealth management because he liked teaching.
Early in his career, he worked in an immigrant community that reflected his own experience as a second-generation immigrant. There, he began to see how access to financial knowledge could change the way people understood their choices and envisioned their futures.
“What drew me to wealth management is teaching,” Awer said. “I was able to really connect with clients on a level for which they were underserved.”
More than 16 years later, Awer is bringing that perspective to Columbia University School of Professional Studies’ (SPS) M.P.S. in Wealth Management program as a recipient of the Wealth Management Advancing Opportunity Fellowship.
“It’s an honor,” Awer said. “I’m very excited to be in the program, to be at a prestigious university like Columbia, and to be chosen and recognized. It’s overwhelmingly exciting.”
Awer’s career has evolved considerably since those early years. He now advises high-net-worth clients and has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designations. He has also been recognized as a Forbes Next Generation Best-In-State Wealth Advisor. His professional experience spans retirement planning, inheritance, business transitions and multigenerational family decision-making. He has also mentored newer advisors and participated in educational discussions about generational wealth and financial planning.
Yet he has remained connected to the community where his career began.
“I work with clients who are in the high net worth space, but at the same time, I still spend at least two days a week in the original community that brought me to where I am today,” Awer said.
That continuity reflects Awer’s belief that wealth management is not only a technical profession but also a form of education. Early in his career, he said, he realized that financial education could change clients’ perspectives and empower them to approach their futures differently.
Throughout his career, Awer has seen families facing similar financial circumstances experience very different outcomes depending on how clearly they communicate and whether they develop a shared understanding of financial decisions.
“I began to realize that helping with the knowledge and the conviction that I have was really making a difference and shifting perspective,” he said. “It really allowed me to choose advising every single day.”
Trust, communication and an understanding of client behavior have become central to Awer’s approach, particularly when families are navigating uncertainty or planning across generations.
Those experiences have deepened his interest in the human side of advising: how families discuss money, how parents prepare children for financial responsibility and how advisors help clients connect technical strategies with their values and long-term goals. That perspective is one of the things Awer hopes to bring to Columbia.
“I’m really excited about connecting with my sectionmates, alumni, faculty, and staff that are in the Columbia SPS Wealth Management community and learning more from them,” he said. When asked what he most wanted from the program, his answer was concise: “Just really building a professional family.”
For Awer, that network represents more than an opportunity for career advancement. He sees the knowledge, relationships and perspectives he gains at Columbia as resources he can carry back to the clients and communities he serves, helping him strengthen both his professional practice and the guidance he provides to others.
“I’m hoping that the knowledge that I gain, the friendships that I gain, including the professional network that’s provided by such a prestigious university, will help me to really become that well-rounded advisor,” he said.
At Columbia, Awer is particularly interested in exploring behavioral finance, financial psychology, generational wealth, client communication and the evolving business models of wealth management. After more than 16 years in the field, he sees the program as an opportunity to complement his practical experience with new perspectives from classmates and faculty.
The fellowship plays an important role in making that next stage of his education possible. More broadly, Awer sees the value of the fellowship in how the benefits of education can extend beyond the individual recipient. He believes financial knowledge can spread outward from one person to a family and eventually across generations.
“The generous contribution that is given by them really pays a dividend with a multiplier effect,” Awer said.
He connects that support directly to the work he hopes to continue in his community. By helping someone build financial literacy and stability today, Awer said, that person can carry greater financial security into their family and pass it forward.
“Advice today really actually pays dividends into the future in a multitude of ways,” he said.
That multiplier effect connects the different parts of Awer’s career: teaching, advising, community engagement, mentorship and now graduate study at Columbia SPS. For Awer, pursuing further education is not simply about advancing his own professional development. It is also about expanding the knowledge and perspective he can bring back to the clients, families and communities who may ultimately benefit from it.
About the Program
The Master of Professional Studies in Wealth Management program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) is a 16-month online program with asynchronous instruction specially designed to accommodate working professionals. It is taught by distinguished faculty with deep applied experience in their respective fields. Additionally, it is a CFP Board Registered Program designed to help students meet the educational requirement for CFP® certification.
About the Fellowship
The Wealth Management Advancing Opportunity Fellowship supports students of the M.P.S. in Wealth Management program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing excellence, leadership and opportunity in the wealth management field.
