bio
Grant Arends is the Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors at intellicents – a financial services firm whose driving mission is to overserve the underserved. While maintaining his Board and Advisory positions at intellicents, Grant retired from day-to-day duties on May 1, 2026, to focus on his philanthropic passions. Grant serves as a Board Member to Marion Medical Mission www.mmmwater.org - a faith based ecumenical NGO that has built over 62,000 protected water wells to the poorest and most remote regions of Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Grant loves to get his hands dirty on the ground in Africa installing wells, while helping with strategic initiatives, fund-raising, and keynoting motivational engagements at home -telling his story to inspire individuals and organizations to live service-centric lives – both personally and professionally. Grant has been married to his wife Susan for 33 years. He and Susan live in Boulder Colorado where they immerse themselves in the outdoors, live music, and the vibrant university community. They have three adult children and are now over the moon as recent grandparents.
education & certifications
Grant graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and also holds minors in Economics and Political Science. Grant has over three decades of experience in the retirement plan industry. He has previously passed securities exams:
Series 6 - Investment Company Products
Series 65 - Uniform Investment Advisor
Series 63 - Blue Sky Securities Law
my idea of living the dream
Making the financial dreams real for our clients by day, and then volunteering by night to help those at home and abroad achieve their dreams which sometimes are as simple yet as profound as just trying to make it to tomorrow.
this is my dream job
I love helping my clients improve the daily lives of their most valuable asset – their employees.
this is how i make it real
One can choose the accumulation of “stuff” or “experiences”. My wife and I choose the later! That includes “adulting” with our adult children, spoiling our dogs to death, listening to live music on land and at sea, scaling whatever obstacle (preferably a mountain) that is in front of me, and seeing \ experiencing the world through both fun and service.