HARRISBURG, Pa. — These are certainly serious times. And EmmorBoslet doesn't mean to make light of them by suggesting she mightdo better to bring a couch into her office.
As vice president of wealth management at the $277 million BelcoCommunity Credit Union and an advisory services representative withCUNA Brokerages Services Inc., Boslet finds herself initiallysetting aside long-term financial goal reviews for conversations onhow family members are faring in the midst of layoffs andforeclosures.
“Right now, we're managing emotions more than anything else,”Boslet said. “The top two concerns are 'How long is this going tolast?' and 'Is my money going to be there for me for the longterm?'”
With more than 20 years of experience in investment advisoryservices, Boslet has seen the ebbs and flows and draws on herinstincts to know that getting a handle of where her clients areemotionally is essential. She is responsible for managing roughly$100 million in assets for more than 1,000 member-clients, mostlypre- and post-retirees. Through the years, she has scaled backserving clients from the young, married and middle of career setsreferring them to other advisers. Her strengths, she said, lieswith helping members prepare and manage long-term care costs,estate planning and all of the stages that come during the agingprocess.
“We're kind of a second family. A lot of times, we know more aboutthese folks than their children sometimes do,” Boslet said. “Ialways ask 'is there anything keeping you up at night.'”
Early in her career, Boslet worked for an independent advisoryfirm. When she came to the credit union industry nearly 16 yearsago, she was taken aback by the level of trust members have intheir credit unions. Even though there is a distinct separationbetween investment services and traditional offerings, she strivesto build on that loyalty.
“Back in the other part of the [investment banking] world, it's'who are you, where do you come from.' I had none of that when Icame to credit unions,” Boslet said. “I know going forward I haveto earn [trust].”
To break through the intimidation they may have felt at biginvestment firms, Paula McCauley at the $338 million East TexasProfessional Credit Union, has a four-prong approach. Financialservice representative McCauley said she listens to them explaintheir money goals, “[that lets] them know I'm listening,” putstogether an allocation model that fits with their situation andeducates. The financial adviser has approximately 450 clients withroughly $40 million in assets under management.
“One of the biggest concerns I hear is 'am I going to lose all mymoney,'” said McCauley, who has been at ETP CU for more than fiveyears. “We tell them credit unions are different than banks. We'remuch more conservative. They need that reassurance, and they wantsomeone to talk to them in everyday English.”
Prior to coming to the credit union, McCauley worked at globalwealth management firm UBS Investment Bank. She's noticed that somenew members are cautious when meeting with her for the first timeand even more so after the big bank upheaval last October.
“Sometimes they feel a little intimidated after [past experiencesof] walking into a Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney or UBS,” she said.“It always goes back to being able to build relationships andcalming fears.”
McCauley has been in the financial advisory business since 1996 andshe's learned that “markets like this make you smarter.” “Somepeople hide under their desk. You have to be open andforthcoming.”
And, what of the take that women advisers may have an advantageover connecting better with members compared to their malecounterparts? Not that men brokers and advisers don't have theability to empathize, McCauley explained, but women tend to take ita step further through expression and giving clients more room totalk it out.
Boslet said women may recognize more that to succeed in thefinancial advisory business the notion is about buildingrelationships not chasing after money. She doesn't call her timewith clients appointments, preferring to see them as visits. Shespends the first 15 minutes talking about family and what's goingon in their lives.
Both McCauley and Boslet are among the 22 financial advisers whorecently received CUNA Brokerage's Women of Distinction award thatrecognizes superior performance, value to their program,exceptional client service and overall contribution to thefinancial services industry. All of the honorees earned more than$250,000 in gross dealer concessions in 2008. Each will be pairedup to serve as either mentors or mentees through monthlyteleconferences and other outlets.
“When you're out at a credit union, you're kind of on an island,”Boslet said. “The fact that I can call or e-mail other advisers,especially other women, is invaluable.”
McCauley relishes the springboard for best practice ideas. “We canfind out what's working and what's not working. We can always learnnew things.”
Boslet, a member of the Financial Planning Association of America,said 26% of those in the financial advisory industry are women.However, that figure has not changed over the last 10 to 15years.
“I don't know why [that's the case]. It's a hard business. How manypeople would take a job if they didn't know what their paycheckwould be from day to day?”
Still, Boslet doesn't believe there's a glass ceiling hangingoverhead as her own research has shown that women advisers tend tooutperform men.
“I have built so many wonderful relationships through the years.We're not stagnant,” Boslet said on linking up with other advisersthrough CUNA Brokerage. “We're always asking 'how can we dobetter?' Not all organizations are like that.”
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