On Oct. 15, a legion of successful and innovative women in the financial services industry gathered in the Chicago for SourceMedia's second Women Advisors Forum.
It was a rainy day in the Windy City, and an abysmal day for the market, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 700 points. But despite their very busy schedules—they admitted to working more nights and weekends than ever before—these women came out to share their stories.
Financial Planning, On Wall Street and Bank Investment Consultant presented the event, which was sponsored by Mutual Service Corp. Chicago Tribune personal finance columnist Gail MarksJarvis delivered an enlightening keynote speech, while two panel discussions revealed the women's secrets of success and how they became rainmakers. The women advisors at the gathering also spent a lot of time sharing what they're doing to deal with the current market rollercoaster.
FEMALE RAINMAKERS: HOW DID YOU GET HERE?
This five-woman panel talked about the obstacles they faced breaking into the planning industry, as well as when they finally realized they had become rainmakers.
The panel featured Teri Conklin, founder of the Conklin Group, a team of six women with more than 100 years' combined experience at UBS; Barbara Finder, senior vice president of wealth management at The Finder Group, a top wealth management team at Smith Barney in Chicago; Denise Izatt, president of Denise A. Izatt and Associates, an independent advisory firm in Chicago; Sharon Oberlander, senior vice president and wealth management advisor of The Oberlander Group, a financial advisory team at Merrill Lynch; and Carol Pankros, founder and owner of CCP Financial Planning, Inc., a fee-only financial planning firm in Chicago. Frances McMorris, the editor-in-chief of On Wall Street magazine moderated this panel.
Getting Started
Conklin started as a sales assistant out of college for PaineWebber and eventually formed her own advisory group after the birth of her first daughter. "My parents were both teachers, so I certainly didn't learn this business through them. I had to learn everything I know through osmosis from the people around me."
Oberlander began her financial career in the banking realm. "Banking was really a man's world, if you wanted to move up at all." But then she picked up a profile of Paula Hughes. Hughes, like Oberlander, was a German immigrant. She had become a top producer at Thompson McKinnon Securities. "I thought, if she can do it, why can't I?"
In her experience breaking into the financial industry, Finder found her age—not her gender—to be the issue. "I was in my young 20s and most people wanted to hire someone older."
Finding Clients
The relationships Oberlander has with her clients are the most important thing. The scariest? Cold calling. But she did plenty of that when she began her career, along with attending seminars and founding the Professional Women's Organization in Chicago. Today, she acquires most of her clients through referrals, a feat she credits to exceptional service. "You don't have to have all the answers; you can get them. But if something isn't working for you, try something else. Any way you can distinguish yourself is important."
Conklin: "When clients compliment you and tell you you're doing a great job and they're really happy with you, don't just say 'thank you.' Ask if they have anyone else who they think would benefit from your services. Do it in a way that makes you comfortable, and it can really be the best resource."
Pankros wanted to be a fee-only financial planner back in 1993, when the approach didn't enjoy the popularity it does today. She taught CFP programs for years, and put herself in front of the media to get her face out there and acquire clients. "The media was great, because I could educate people as well as get clients. My main concentration is education, and now my clients all come in from referrals."
Finder is still cold calling. Why? Because she enjoys it. Most advisors loathe cold calling, but it is the best part of Finder's day. "I'd spend half my day doing cold calls if I could. I keep a very generic cold call that allows me to call anyone and not even sell anything. Then, I can set up a meeting to get to know them better and it just works really well."
How Did You Acquire Your Biggest Client?
Finder acquired her biggest client through a referral from an estate planning attorney. She was a woman who was entering her second marriage, with six kids and immense wealth. "When I met her, we spent two hours talking about her dreams, her fears-nothing about finance. I listened. She just wanted to be heard and to make sure her kids were taken care of."
Izatt walks her dog every morning at the dog park. But one day what she always considered her peaceful time away from the office became an ideal business opportunity. "I met a woman who sold her business, and I had talked to her plenty, but never about work stuff. She sought me out and asked me if we could talk about what I do. It was great. Let's just say, my dog got me my biggest client."
Oberlander had a business relationship for 15 years with her biggest client before she could call him just that. For the first decade or so, he had most of his money at Goldman Sachs, spread across four different advisors. Oberlander, however, always had his IRA. He used to call her and complain about the other advisors. "And then finally, after so long, he brought all of his funds over. I thought it was temporary, because he had jumped around so much before. But now, after 28 years, he still has all his assets consolidated with me."
Pankros received her biggest client from another planner, who was hoping she could talk to this couple who, unlike most the planner had seen before, had decided the woman would be the one managing the family's financial issues. "So I went and I talked to them and I listened. Conversations are so meaningful to these people, just being a good listener is important."
Your Toughest Client
Pankros: "I have a client who has Multiple Sclerosis. He has good days and bad days, but he's always in pain, which makes it hard for him to communicate." Pankros goes to his house to meet with this ailing client, acknowledging his pain and listening to him.
Conklin learned a valuable lesson from her toughest client: Know who is next in line. "I had a woman who had great wealth as a client, and she had one son. When she died, I found out that her son already had 10 other brokers." Needless to say, Conklin lost the woman's son as a client. He has now, however, come back to Conklin, unsatisfied with the other brokers and wanting to hear what she can do for him.
Do You Feel Like a Rainmaker?
For Finder, being successful in this industry is all about knowing what you can't do. "I really thrive in front of people, but I can't do everything. You've got to decide what you most enjoy and let other people make up for the rest."
Oberlander: "You really have to love people. Plus, you've got to be a leader and a connector-that's what makes you a rainmaker. Clients want a financial planner who's smart and opinionated and who shows leadership. If you're giving them choices, give them advice too. You can build leadership skills by being willing to take risks. You need a written business plan with activities you need to do to achieve your goals. It's the only way to be in this business."
SECRETS TO YOUR SUCCESS
The four women on the panel—three of whom began their career in another industry before deciding upon a path in financial services—revealed how they stay on top of the industry, as well as some pointers for climbing the ladder of success.
The panel featured Susan Bellehumeur, managing director and branch manager of Robert W. Baird, an employee-owned financial services firm based in Milwaukee, Wisc.; Barbara Hudock, managing principal at Hudock Moyer Wealth Management, a group affiliated with Wachovia Securities; Diane Maloney, president of Beacon Financial Planning Services, a registered investment advisory firm based in Plainfield, Ill.; and Kathy Roeser, senior vice president and wealth advisor in the Chicago High Net Worth office of Morgan Stanley. The panel was moderated by Marion Asnes, editor-in-chief of Financial Planning magazine.
Staying Focused in a Turbulent Market
For Bellehumeur, reaching out to the other people in her office to keep them focused on guiding their clients through these turbulent times is just as important as keeping herself on task. "We've been gathering everyone together and ordering lunch in. They take it back to their desk and work, work, work, but it's nice to keep that camaraderie going. You've got to make sure everyone is getting back to their clients."
For the first time in her 30-plus years as a financial advisor, Hudock decided that the economy was in trouble. She changed her asset allocations to 22% equities and 32% alternatives following the market's explosion this month. But despite her rapid reaction, or perhaps as a result of it, Hudock has noticed a general sense of calm among her clients. Many of them, in fact, are more concerned about her. "One client gave me jellybeans saying, 'I thought you may need a lift.' The phones are ringing, but it's not grueling." Hudock's team has called nearly every one of Hudock Moyer's 654 clients since the October drop. Not one has called the firm angry.
Roeser is taking this uncertain time to gain a leg up on her competition, something that is invaluable at a time like this, she says. "This has been pretty easy so far. Just wait if this lasts another year or two. You need to be smarter than anyone else on the street. I watch Bloomberg in the morning now and the news on Sunday nights, which I didn't used to do before."
Hudock has found that her clients want different things at different times, and that means finding the right person to provide that client with what they need to be happy. "Figure out what your unique ability is and delegate everything else. My strength is relationships. Other people on my team are much smarter and stronger than me in investments and are CFPs (which she is not). Sometimes, clients need warmth and comfort and they come to me. Right now, clients don't care if they talk to me, and that's just fine. Being able to admit that you're not the best at everything, but finding the right people who are, is the key to satisfying clients."
Realizing You're a Leader
Bellehumeur's firm was looking for a new branch manager, and they had another person in mind. She quickly put her name on the list, certain she could do the job better. "You'd never know it, but I can take someone's head off. I'm quietly competitive. I volunteer for so many things; they need to know you're interested. And if you don't get it, be okay with that too."
Maloney realized just how prominent her role was in her business when she took a flight to North Korea, where missiles were being fired. "I called my son and asked, 'What are the chances of me getting hurt here?' He said they were slim but there. I knew I needed a transition plan. If you're the boss, you owe it to your clients to have a transition plan."
Using Coaches
Hudock has a coach come in two days each month to talk about what Hudock Moyer is doing well and what they could be doing better. Paying money for this type of coaching, she says, forces her to take it seriously. "When I see something as an investment in my business and not as an expense, I think of it differently and really use it wisely. You need people who change your life and cause you to start brainstorming about different ways to do something." In addition, she and her son, Michael Hudock, sit down each week to discuss the business—no talk of the market, or the economy allowed—only the big picture.
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Gail MarksJarvis, personal finance columnist for the Chicago Tribune, delivered the keynote speech at the event. MarksJarvis has been named "Best Financial Columnist" by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and has provided analysis on "Talk of the Nation," "Sound Money," and ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates. She brought her class, her wisdom and her knowledge of the average American to reach these top financial women.
MarksJarvis opened her speech by acknowledging the rollercoaster that has encapsulated the financial industry in the past few months. She is working harder than ever before, she says, staying at work till 11 p.m. returning readers' emails and phone calls frantically pleading with her for guidance. But without a crystal ball to tell them when the storm will end, MarksJarvis shifted focus to the issue she sees at hand: the retirement crisis.
"By the time baby boomers are in retirement, the United States will be $44 billion short per year of covering basic living expenses in retirement," MarksJarvis said. The American public, she continued, lacks a feeling of control over their futures. Women—even the wealthiest of women—are concerned about becoming bag ladies. They don't know how much money they need to save, if the amount they've already saved is enough or what today's down market means to them.
MarksJarvis urged her audience to talk to their clients in terms they can understand. She asked advisors to think about these people and their futures and to make sure they know what they need and how they can attain it. She urged them to meet not only with their clients, but with their clients' kids as well, to assure they too know what to do for their future. "If an 18-year-old puts $20 a week into a Roth IRA for four years, he or she will eventually have $1 million," MarksJarvis said. They need to know this.
MarksJarvis also answered audience questions, which primarily addressed the current market turmoil. One woman asked her what she is hearing from her readers in their state of panic. What are they thinking about doing? MarksJarvis' response wasn't what they wanted to hear. People are, she said, thinking about selling out of the market for good and leaving their advisors altogether, a statement that led to several audible gasps throughout the room. Advisors must educate their clients, she said, to make sure they know that is not the way to go. "They need to know it's all still possible."
