First of all I would like to say that I am very humbled to be selected as a Moroccan of the month. It is a privilege to be recognized among such a successful and elite group of fellow Moroccans that are working hard everyday in pursuit of nothing but the best in their respective careers. I look at all of you as an inspiration for me to succeed in my profession and to be among the best ambassadors of our country in the United States.

My name is Hatim Smouni. I was born in Casablanca on November 16, 1974. My father is Mr. Boubker Smouni, from the small village of Bejjaad, and my wonderful mother is Hajja Aisha ElMcherqui (yes you guessed it, Naima is my aunt) from Casablanca. I spent all my childhood in Casablanca, in private elementary (bennis) and public schools (Imam Malik, badr, and Lycee Moulay Idriss) to get my high school degree in 1994. After learning English at home and passing my toefel, I came to the united states in December 1994 to start my college experience in Conway, Arkansas. Quite a different place to settle in after living in such a big metropolitan city as Casablanca, but I just wanted to be somewhere different and to experience the southern American way of life.

I was very active and I learned a lot from my college experience and graduated with a degree of business in international trade and Computer Information Systems from the University of Central Arkansas. After working as a sales manager at Gateway, Inc, I returned to school and took more classes in Marketing because I enjoyed the subject.

A couple of life events led me to a different path in life. One of them was to settle down and get married to my lovely wife Alex, and the other was to start a new career path as a financial planner.

I was ready for a change in my life to take it to the next level. I wanted to try something different and started working in the investment field. It is a very competitive, challenging and demanding career. I successfully passed the financial industry’s flagship CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation (there are only 50,000 CFP®'s in the world). Since then the educational process hasn’t stopped, as a matter of fact, the learning curve will hopefully keep going up for the rest of my life. I am now in the final stages of finishing up my master’s degree in financial planning from the college for financial planning in Colorado, and will then be working on getting other accreditations.

As a certified financial planner I analyze a client's overall financial situation and develop a comprehensive plan that meets his/her goals and objectives. The six main areas of a comprehensive financial plan include the Financial planning process, Risk management, Investment planning, Tax planning, Retirement planning, and Estate Planning. I enjoy my job as a certified financial planner because i get to help improve my clients lives and to offer them financial peace of mind. It is an indescribable feeling when a client comes to you at the final stage of a financial plan implementation and expresses his/her deepest gratitude, because now they know that if something happens to them, their families are going to be just fine, that they took care of everything. Some of the other aspects of my job that I like are that I can have a virtual office and that we have clients located all over the world.

I am a strong believer in giving back to the community, and therefore I am very active in the Little Rock community, Currently I am a member of Harvesters, a non-profit organization that raises money for the Arkansas Food-Bank Network. I am also a board member of the Heights Neighborhood Association. In addition, I am a member of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Professional Advisory Council. I am also active with the Islamic Center of Little Rock. I am a supporter of the national alopecia Areata foundation, and an active American Red Cross blood donor. It has been a very exciting journey, and I thank God for allowing me to get to where I am now.

You may e-mail Mr. Hatim Smouni at hatim@wafin.com with all your inquiries in financial planning. You can also visit his Wafin >> Ask an Expert page here.