Blending Faith, Finance & Service

As a pastor’s son, Michael Manjarrez (BA ’12) grew up in the church and the embrace of faith. He developed an interest in finance as a teenager and, with the foundation of a business degree from Fresno Pacific University, ultimately charted the path to become a certified financial planner and investment adviser at Whelan Financial in Fresno. Today, Manjarrez sees his work as more than a business or just the way to earn a living. “My work is absolutely a service to others,” he says.

Manjarrez, 39, is a product of the university’s bachelor’s degree completion program. He says relationships with faculty influenced his professional outlook.

For example, he tells the story of a professor formerly in the hospitality industry, someone who lived the difficulties of working with the public’s various temperaments and personalities. She knew she needed to show care and love for all people to be successful.

It’s a belief Manjarrez endorses: “This idea of caring for your clients, especially the ones who are difficult, could separate us from others in the workplace and was a repeatable theme at Fresno Pacific,” he says,” I believe one cannot fake this. People can identify a fraud quite easily.”

Learning faith and kindness at home

Manjarrez’s journey began in Fresno, where he was born and raised. His father was a pastor and his mother was a teacher. Manjarrez began working in the Valley Christian Center office as a teenager and also volunteered with Young Life, a Christian ministry that he recently began working with again.

After graduating from Buchanan High School, he took classes at Fresno City College for a few years while working various jobs. He floundered a bit, accumulating loads of academic credits without a distinct plan to earn a degree or advance a career in business: “It just took me a while to get a handle on college,” Manjarrez says.

He learned about Fresno Pacific, and its degree completion program, from his piano teacher (a university instructor) along with friends. Manjarrez was in his mid-20s and ready to move forward in life when he enrolled at the university.

The degree-completion program, and its singular focus, provided the academic road map he needed to complete a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in management. He reflects on his time at FPU as a great experience. “As a student, it was very easy for me to talk to my adviser and the instructors,” says Manjarrez, who took most of his classes at the North Fresno Campus.

Fresno Pacific was also an easy transition due to his upbringing. “Because I grew up in the church, it was easy for Pacific to reinforce what I had already grown up with and learned and knew about,” he says.

Finding a focus

At the beginning of his career, Manjarrez had a basic investment license and worked for a bank—mainly cold-calling clients to offer investment opportunities. That wasn’t the career trajectory he wanted.

So Manjarrez took a detour with a job at a marketing firm, working in the finance area. When the firm struggled, he was laid off—and unemployed for about a year. Then he heard a podcast outlining the role of a registered investment adviser, and that offered the promise of a fresh path forward.

“I learned that not all investment managers were salespeople,” he says. While marketing yourself is important, “you didn’t have to have the sales quota environment to be successful.”

Re-entering finance at a small firm in Clovis, Manjarrez began bringing in clients. In 2021, after earning his certified financial planner designation in a two-year program, he was recruited to join Whelan Financial.

The fee-based firm operates on a fiduciary standard, which is different than the broker/dealer standard. A fiduciary is required to act in the best interest of a client while a broker/dealer operates under a suitability standard—offering investments they think are suitable for clients.

The distinction is important to Manjarrez and his idea of service to clients. His approach comes from a position of caring and knowledge, which sets the foundation for the best advice. That means discussions with clients about family, cash flow, retirement, taxes, insurance, estate planning and more.

“Because my job is focused on giving financial advice, I must know and understand my clients on a very personal level, free of judgment, to help them succeed and fulfill their calling,” he says.

Staying on the path

Landing on the best strategy is both an art and a science, he believes. Manjarrez meets with clients quarterly and offers advice on course corrections as needed.

“When people ask me what I do for a living, I often say that I help clients stay on their path,” he says.

Entwined with this work is a sense of service to others. “We can’t be effective if we can’t show we care, and we can’t be effective if we can’t build trust with our clients,” he says.

There is crossover between biblical studies and business, Manjarrez believes. Money is a common subject in the Bible. In addition, he says, “there’s a lot to be said about the principle of ethics and morality and following biblical teachings and doing what’s right for our clients.”

Recently, Manjarrez was one of four Sunbirds named to Fresno’s 40 Under 40 class for 2025. BusinessLeaders.TV has assembled the list of young professionals from public and private sectors almost annually since 2007.

Manjarrez is honored to be one of the business professionals recognized for a strong work ethic and emerging leadership. FPU is part of his story and an enduring influence in his life and profession. The university helped him move forward, he says, and also “nurtured the idea that one could work in the private sector and demonstrate his faith to his clients—even if only indirectly.”