Ryan Derda
Ryan Derda started his first company at just 18 years old, a dog training service called Companion Canine, Inc. and has never looked back since. After being mentored by one of the world’s top experts and becoming one of the highest credentialed trainers in North America, Ryan forged relationships that have lasted to this day. Years later, he joined the fire department with the goal of helping them train search and rescue dogs, something he was one of only five people, at the time, in the state qualified to do. However, while at the fire department, he realized there was a certain lack of financial literacy among his colleagues and he got interested in learning the material for his own retirement portfolio, as well as those of his friends and family. It was here that Ryan turned his attention to finance, specifically alternative and creative financing, off the beaten Wall Street-style path. Today, he is the owner of MoneyTree Group, Inc., located in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he serves as an asset manager.
MoneyTree Group owns Elemental Treasures Corp., a precious metals company; co-owns Nodemads, LLC, a crypto asset hedge fund; and B.I.G. Fintech, LP, which, in limited partnership with Bitfineon, LTD, owns a cryptocurrency exchange. With cryptocurrency and precious metals in particular, Ryan helps people invest in assets outside of the US dollar and fiat currencies. “The crypto space gives people more financial independence and convenience as it is able to be used globally and is not denominated only in U.S. dollars,” he explains. This larger perspective is also why Ryan is more interested in out-of-the-box investment and financial strategies, rather than sticking to established approaches. Ryan is a former Series-7 holder and has also been awarded a Top Producer Award by insurance brokerage American Equity, but his greatest reward is his clients’ success and the returns that he has provided for them, with 90% of his business coming from referrals.
Ryan launched MoneyTree Group, Inc. in 2015, which became the parent company for the rest of his ventures and allowed him to create a unique infrastructure for his businesses. In 2018, he co-founded Nodemads with partner JC Irurzun, a former VP of Bank of America. Based around JC’s passive crypto portfolio and driven by their complementary knowledge, Ryan and JC launched Nodemads as a way to get friends and family into the crypto space for their own investments. The success of this fund led to a partnership with Bitfineon LTD and launched a crypto exchange through another company they formed called B.I.G. Fintech, LP. From Ryan’s perspective, both crypto and precious metals, and particularly metals, are far more secure investments in today’s market environment than the U.S. dollar and dollar-denominated assets. “Precious metals have been sound money against currencies for over 5,000 years,” he says. “So, from my perspective, I didn’t think I was giving completely sound financial guidance by telling people to put their money into just crypto. I saw precious metals, a tier-1 asset, as a sound, protected investment for my clients.”
Ryan attributes his success in all of his ventures to great mentorship, as well as his own personal and varied experience, both the gains and the losses. His high success rate with clients also comes from that experience as well as the vast network he’s cultivated over the years. He’s been able to tap that network of friends, family, former co-workers, and clients, and plenty of other talented people, to gain education, knowledge, and advice that he then passes on to his current clients and friends. He’s also taken two years of Richard Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Education Program. In addition to all he does, he’s also an independent contractor with Treasure Coast Bullion, one of the largest bullion companies in the industry, through which he can purchase and broker metals for Elemental Treasures.
To ensure his clients’ success, Ryan takes a personal approach. “I don’t tell them anything I wouldn’t do myself,” he says. “I recommend to my clients for their portfolios the same things I own and the same things I structured for my own family.”
Ryan Derda
Asset Manager — MoneyTree Group, Inc.
Website: www.nodemads.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-p-derda-a9236420/
Twitter: @BIGFinLP