Geri: She came on as an associate financial advisor on our team. This meant she could work with a lead advisor and a service manager. She now supports the lead advisor who works with our high-net-worth clients and she’s become a lead advisor in her own right.

Paul: Katie, what was it like for you transitioning from an institutional approach to working with individual clients?

Katie: I was very pleased that the skills I had developed at Mercer translated directly to the work at PWP. And because of the great people here, and extensive training through Ameriprise, I got immediate exposure to the personal financial planning process. I particularly enjoy the depth of our client relationships.

Geri: I want to stress that I’m a big believer in a period of internship when people start out as financial advisors. Before Katie was able to be in front of clients solo, she went through a process: being in the field with experienced advisors and learning through observing as well as training in the basics of financial planning. Now that she’s at the end of this process, she’s demonstrating these skills in client meetings. I think this process is necessary to establish trust between advisors and clients.

Paul: Geri, what did Katie’s ESG credentials bring to the practice?

Geri: ESG investing is an area I’ve always offered my clients. But Katie brought years of research and deeper understanding. It was like me going out and getting a Ph.D. in ESG. She knows all the players, the data, the providers of resources and products. She also helped develop an ESG marketing plan for the team and she runs the ESG discretionary product that’s available to all our advisors.

Paul: Now that other advisors in the practice have learned more about ESG investing with Katie’s help, are you seeing more interest in ESG strategies from  clients?

Geri: Absolutely. Occasionally a client asks for ESG investing on their own, but when we actively talk to people about it, a majority of our clients say, “Wow! Tell me more!” We now have a very high ESG strategy implementation rate. This enables our advisors to deepen how they talk about ESG and be more confident in our products.

Paul: Geri, now that you’re almost two years into the process of working with Katie, what advice do you have for advisors like yourself?     

Geri: First, you can’t just carve off a piece of your book and say to someone like Katie, “Take this and run with it.” You have to ground them in the experience.