Paul: Kelly, how many calls like that do you get a week?
Kelly: Not too many like Marlo, who was willing to jump in headfirst. Everything started to move very quickly after that initial conversation. I think Marlo was on a golf course disrupting other golfers as we were chatting!
Marlo: One of those women on the golf course actually came to the focus group. I was so excited that people on the course were hushing me.
Kelly: I went to Marlo’s focus group in Palm Desert, where she lives and has her office. That was in April 2015. Six months later, Marlo’s practice had gone from 0 to 60 in terms of integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments and launching their impact portfolios.
Paul: Kathleen, were you anticipating this kind of response from a very successful advisor like Marlo?
Kathleen: We’re always hopeful for this type of response, but weren’t sure how the marketplace would accept a product like Pax Ellevate. Marlo is a good example of a veteran advisor who’s successful and still open to new ideas that clients will find helpful to their financial goals.
Paul: Marlo, you and I met last May when your practice and firm were in transition and you were planning to launch client portfolios focused on ESG investment strategies. What was your expectation of other advisors in the firm embracing these strategies?
Marlo: We had transitioned to LPL Financial as our broker-dealer and joined The Wealth Consulting Group (WCG). I’m very fortunate to work with Jimmy Lee, our forward thinking CEO, who said “Marlo, I think you’ve probably hit on one of the most important opportunities our firm will ever see.” He gave us the green light. And having a team of 34 advisors made building something new more exciting.
ESG integration was one of the catalysts for asking our clients to transition to an independent broker-dealer with minimum disruption. I knew if it worked for my practice, it would work for the other advisors. That helped create a lot of enthusiasm at the firm level, which keeps you energized.
Paul: Kelly, as a millennial, what have you learned from Kathleen that’s helping you build relationships with advisors like Marlo?
Kelly: We have such a cool working relationship, and I’m constantly learning from her. She built a successful career at Goldman Sachs working with advisors and has a great reputation in the industry. Relationship building is the most important mentoring Kathleen offers me.
Paul: Kathleen, what’s your experience working with millennials?
Kathleen: The firms I’ve worked with have always valued the different perspectives younger people bring. At Goldman Sachs, we brought young people in to work with us as interns and analysts.
What’s been different about Pax Ellevate is the relationships we build with advisors like Marlo. I’m thrilled with how Kelly has no hesitation about working on things she hasn’t tried before. We mold our perspectives together through good communication. When we add a dynamic advisor like Marlo, it creates a group of like-minded people with purpose and passion working for our investor clients.