Jim Tracy

Executive Vice President and Director of Business Development
Citi Global Wealth Management
Years In Securities Industry: 25

I was born in Brooklyn but moved to the Midwest when I was 12. As a kid, I had two newspaper routes, for competing Ohio publications. I delivered one paper at 4 a.m. and the other at 5 a.m. That job taught me the value of service—there were no tips if there was no service. I made sure the paper was there when people had their morning coffee, and I was polite when I collected the money.

Investing was a hobby of mine. When I was in high school, I started reading the mutual fund tables. I invested in one that required a minimum investment of $25 and allowed deposits in $5 increments.

Later, after graduating from Marietta College in Ohio with a major in management and accounting, I sold sporting goods for three years. In 1981, I found a job that was more aligned with my interests—as a financial planner at Investors Diversified Services, or IDS. I did a lot of "kitchen table" selling, getting to know people's goals and objectives. It was excellent training. I learned about asking the right questions, and I became comfortable with the people side of the business.

I was lucky along the way. I was able to build relationships fairly easily. My first client, Hazel, stayed with me throughout my career. Even when I was in management, she insisted that I continue to manage her money. When she passed away in her nineties, she "willed" me to her two daughters. Her explicit instructions to them were: "When you get this money, call Jim at this number. He'll take care of you." It was flattering that she trusted me that much.

When I started, people were intrigued by the stock market. It wasn't uncommon to open five or six accounts a night by cold-calling. I called one man several times who claimed to have a lot of money. When I finally got an appointment, I drove down a wooded path to an Airstream trailer. When a disheveled man answered the door, I thought it was a big mistake. But he became one of my biggest clients. I learned that you can't judge people by the way they look or where they live.

In 1988, Smith Barney recruited me as an advisor. I later became a sales manager; not long afterward I became a branch manager and then a regional director. Now I oversee the investment advisory business, recruiting, marketing, professional development and national sales. One of the things I value most is loyalty, and this firm has been incredibly good to me. It's been rewarding to grow professionally while serving the same firm all this time.

This is a consultative, face-to-face business. You have to build credibility. You learn new lessons every year, but I can't think of a time when I didn't want to get up and come to work. Our business is all about change and world events, and they're not always pretty. If you have a perspective from history and a vision for the future, and if you stay focused on doing the right thing for your clients, that helps you get through it. I focus on my clients—the advisors at Smith Barney—and have empathy for what they're going through right now. It leads to mutual success for the future. Besides valuing loyalty, I admire people who can always be positive. They make you smile, they make you laugh, and they bring tranquility to an environment that can be hectic at times.

In what little spare time I have, I love to cook. I'm good at improvising. I can open a pantry and grab and combine ingredients that some people would never think of mixing together. It's relaxing. Yet even while cooking, I like to make the most of my time. It's easiest for me to talk and cook at the same time.

As told to Pat Olsen.