Shawn Hochuli, a 45-year-old NFL referee who officiated the 2025 NFC Championship Game, spends his Sundays in stripes and his weekdays in a suit. Since 2005, he has been registered with LPL Financial, where he co-founded IWM Partners in Irvine, California, alongside Michael Hernandez in 2004. The practice now oversees more than $500 million in client assets, according to the firm's website.
Hochuli's dual career mirrors that of his father, Ed Hochuli, who balanced a law practice with 27 seasons as an NFL referee before retiring in 2018. Shawn, who played college football at Pitzer College, joined the NFL officiating ranks in 2014 and became a referee four years later. He has worked nearly 200 regular-season games and 10 playoff contests, including the 2025 NFC Championship.
IWM Partners, which employs six LPL advisors and two support staff, offers investment management, financial planning, retirement and estate planning, insurance, tax strategies, cash-flow analysis, and investor psychology. The firm's team includes advisors Barbara Stowell, Jim Jones, Clifford Neill, and Nicholas Lupo, with Lucy Sandoval as administrative associate and Vienna Gusha as operations manager.
Hochuli's path from athlete to advisor is not uncommon. Louis Diamond, CEO of recruiting firm Diamond Consultants, notes that former athletes often make strong advisors because they are team-oriented, hardworking, and accustomed to coaching. "Business development usually comes a little easier too because people want to meet them," he said.
The financial rewards of officiating are substantial: NFL referees earn an average of $385,000 per season under the current seven-year collective bargaining agreement. However, Diamond cautions that visibility alone does not win clients. "Visibility isn't a substitute for competence," he said. "Prospects may take the call out of curiosity, but they hire the advisor who understands their situation and can deliver."
The practical challenge, Diamond added, is capacity. "If you're gone every fall weekend, the practice has to run without you, which means having a strong team behind you is essential." Hochuli declined to comment for this story, citing NFL rules limiting interview availability during the season.
April Rudin, founder of The Rudin Group, a financial marketing consultancy, sees an advantage in Hochuli's network. "It gives advisors access to the network that Shawn has of professional players," she said. "They have a very short window where they're earning a lot of money, and then they have to make that money last over time."
Interest in serving athletes is growing across the industry. Recent moves by wealth management firms include Americana Partners and Factory Capital launching athlete-focused divisions, while UBS, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan have long offered similar practices. In April, U.S. Bank announced a multi-year deal to become the NFL's official bank and wealth management sponsor, hiring former NFL player Steven Israel as a wealth management consultant.
Rudin suggests that the advisory profession's flexibility lends itself to a "portfolio career." "It's a very portable career," she said. "You can onboard as many clients as you want. You're able to kind of be your own boss, depending on the firm." For Hochuli, the balance of two demanding roles appears to be a family tradition.
