Women in leadership: Perspectives from Capital Group's RIA Advisory Board
Julie: Hi, everyone. I'm Julie Cooling, founder and CEO of RIA Channel. I'm here today with Capital Group and two members of the board of RIA InsiderTM. RIAInsider.com is a complimentary service provided by Capital Group to help advisors grow their businesses.
I am joined here today with two board members, Catherine Farley and Rita Lee. Catherine Farley is a CPA, chief financial officer at Oxford Financial Group, a multi-billion-dollar RIA firm based out of Carmel, Indiana. Rita Lee is also a CPA, principal, vice president and director of research for Brouwer & Janachowski, a billion-dollar RIA firm based out of Mill Valley, California. So, Catherine and Rita are both on the board again for RIA Insider, and before I get started with them, I would like to tell you a little bit about what RIA Insider provides for advisors.
As board members, the board gets together to talk about what needs may be in the advisor community in terms of helping advisors grow their businesses. They provide access to a number of tools and resources, including consultations with Capital Group investment specialists. They also offer complimentary access to Truelytics, which is a valuation, strategic planning and M&A tool that wealth advisors can use to help them understand their ecosystem, competitors and valuations.
They also offer … RIA Insider offers Marketing Lab — this is a place where you can access insights, research and information that you can include in your own marketing materials, white label it and send it out to provide information to your clients.
RIA Insider is a complimentary service, and you can become a member by going to RIAInsider.com. And as I mentioned, the board is made up of industry leaders that get together on a regular basis to talk about specific issues or challenges and opportunities within the industry that they can share to the broader community.
So, let’s get started first with backgrounds, I would love to learn a little bit more about each of you. Catherine again if you can go ahead and give a little about your background, about who you are and how you ended up at Oxford Financial Group.
Catherine: Yes, thank you. I started in the industry a number of years ago, I won’t say how old I am, but I started out fresh out of college at Olde Discount Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, which was a self-clearing broker-dealer, and I am more of an operational person, not an advisor so I started off in accounting and kind of worked my way up and eventually became CFO when it was H&R Block Financial Advisors. That company itself kind of launched my career, it exposed me to a lot of things in the industry, from operations, compliance, dealing with regulations with the SEC, New York Stock Exchange back then, all of that. And then eventually I went to another RIA firm, which had a broker-dealer and an RIA and was the CFO there, and again it was more of a start-up there, but it was fun because you got to start things from scratch and create something, so that was great in my career from an experience standpoint. Then I went on to another RIA which was more institutional, which was OBS Financial, and that exposed me to other things, like the sales side, dealing with institutions and not individuals per se, and now I am at Oxford Financial, which caters to the ultra high net worth community. And so, that’s kind of my career path, and it has always been in operations or finance in general, as well as compliance, from that aspect, and you know from the RIA community space, being able to share ideas with one another with the advisory board has been an awesome experience.
Julie: And Rita, can you give us a little bit about your background?
Rita: Well, I’m currently head of research and a wealth advisor at Brouwer & Janachowski. I also am a CPA by training. I got started as an intern for an RIA firm, where I learned to do equity research and advise clients. After graduation, I landed in Sunstone Financial, now a part of UMB, where I got to work with some of the greatest fund managers, which launched me into the asset management firm when indexing gained traction. The firm also had a robust reputation for private wealth management, so I got to see what high-end services was all about. Finally, I have come full circle back to an RIA firm where I am at now. I oversee research, portfolio management and advise clients.
Julie: Obviously you’ve done many different tasks and covered the gamut in terms of industry experience, which I think is so important in terms of career development, getting a little bit of experience in every area. And I think also, one of the things that I mentioned that community is so important within RIA Insider and in our careers in general — mentoring, and I would love to know if each of you have had mentors along the way in your path.
Rita: I was lucky to have formal and informal mentors throughout my career. It’s people whom you have developed a strong relationship with and admire, really, because they have done well. So, one of my mentors, she was a VP of the firm and introduced me, selflessly, to my next employer. One sponsored my graduate studies because he thought that I had greater potential, and a couple different managers gave really honest and constructive advice that contributed to my personal growth and professional growth. Funny, one even taught me about divorce and QDRO (qualified domestic relation order) when I was still single, so there are many things that these men and women have blessed me with, not the least their wisdom. Many have become good friends and I am forever grateful to them.
Catherine: Uhm yes, when I first started my career, I had two great mentors, the CFO of the company as well as the managing director, and they basically helped me get exposure to a lot of different areas. I was able to work at a fixed income trading desk and design a fixed income trading system, the equity area, a lot of different things but they exposed me to a lot in the industry, kind of coached me even after I left that company, I still kept in touch with them, I still went for advice to them in different situations. And then later on in my career, my last firm the CEO and I worked very well together, and he definitely mentored me dealing with institutions. I interacted face-to-face with the different institutions from a client aspect, which is a lot different, I hadn’t done that in my career before, so he was a great mentor in that aspect. And I have also mentored people too. That’s one of those things as you go through your career that it’s important to help develop people — the individuals under you as well as in other departments, and it’s also important as well … mentors somewhat come naturally, sometimes they don’t, but it’s individuals that you gravitate towards and you kind of have something that clicks a relationship per se, and that can develop over time, and maybe not, but that’s kind of how mine developed — individuals I worked for and having a strong relationship and respect for them.
Julie: I would encourage listeners if they are looking for a mentor, you can definitely ask. Right? So, if you have somebody that you respect, that you admire in the industry — I have been asked actually over the years by younger employees as well as colleagues to mentor. I didn’t even know what it meant to be a mentor so I had to go do a little bit of homework before doing it, but there’s no harm in asking or reaching out because I think that people are so willing to help, and again getting back to community it’s so critical in terms of growth, professional growth. So of course, the path is not always straight, and it’s not always easy depending on what your goals are. I would love to know maybe some of the challenges you have both faced in your careers along the way. So, back to you Catherine if I can ask what are some of the challenges you’ve faced?
Catherine: Uhm, I think at the beginning of my career I had some challenges. I think when I first got promoted to an officer of the company, I heard some men make some comments. But I would say that was very early in my career, and since then I have encountered less and less challenges as far as being female, and maybe the companies I work for have been a bit progressive? The last firm I worked for, the executive team was four people and two were women and two were men. At Oxford Financial the senior leadership executive team here, there’s five people on the team, and three are women. Fortunately, the companies I’ve worked for have been progressive and been open and I haven’t really encountered that in a number of years, being female in the industry. I know some others may have a different experience, but I have been very fortunate for the companies that I have worked for.
Rita: In my case, in my view, you earn the right to speak your view. Don’t assume everyone sees your point right away. I would say be ready to explain your position and the benefits it brings. Women come from another side of the view sometimes, but we have to understand that managers want results, and I would say I would show my progress and I’m making progress and that is what they wanted to see. Be objective, be a reliable team player and a positive change agent because I think that’s quite an important mindset. I always suggest people to think with the best intention and work to bring the best out of others, because every situation is a learning opportunity.
Julie: Would you give advice to younger professionals entering the industry or making their way through to take on various designations? Obviously additional education can’t hurt of course, but regarding that or then maybe other advice you would give your younger selves if you could start over again, what would you do differently? Catherine?
Catherine: I am not sure I would do too many things differently. I think the main thing that I would say to a younger me is get exposure to as many things as possible, and don’t get set in a set career path, because quite often that develops over time and something you may plan on doing, you may get opportunities someplace else. So I think being open-minded is key in a career, and challenge yourself, take the different designations, I’ve taken numerous FINRA licensing examinations, educate yourself in the industry, attend different seminars even if it’s not something that’s in your lane as far as if it’s accounting maybe you attend something compliance oriented, but make sure you have a diverse background because that will help you in your career path. So that’s what I would say to somebody younger than me. I also say this is to be humble. Always look at I guess you could say understanding other people and never put yourself above somebody, because you always need to understand all levels in a company and that will help you become a better leader.
Rita: Try different roles. As Catherine mentioned, ask for opportunities and if you fail, you only grow. Very few people have a straight career path, Catherine and I were both CPA by training but look, it took us to roles in strategy, compliance, technology, operations and client service. So, it’s be ready for the opportunity and step up when you see it.
Julie: Can you talk about what you’re hoping for, or what you’re hoping for out of this organization and the resources that it will provide and as members of the board? So, Rita, I’ll let you start with that.
Rita: I really cherish to develop valuable connections to this elite group of industry leaders. We learn from each other, and we also have Capital Group’s ear. We as a group shared the pains and gains of 2020 and it was highly encouraging. When I look back, I thought we were probably at a normative stage, I see that we are progressing to the performing stage in 2021.
Julie: Obviously things are different, and you can’t have in-person events, but certainly there’s a lot of need, I would say, to connect with one another, and I would say it’s a great time to build. Right? So, we may not be on the road and we may not be face-to-face, but we certainly can build together online. So, Catherine, I will let you answer that question as well.
Catherine: It was the first year and the first creation of the advisory board, and so us coming together in March right when COVID hit, which was our first meeting, obviously it would have been better to have it in person, but we were able to kind of hear what one another are going through at each firm, each firm is slightly different, different management issues that came up, and it was a great way to share. I think Capital Group has been great in providing resources and education on different subjects since they launched this. And we are becoming closer now that we have gotten to know each other with the different meetings we’ve had, and obviously once we go in person, I can see this developing a lot further. As we were talking recently on a call having a cocktail hour after our meeting, you know some of the subjects that each of us can kind of bond over or talk through that are dealing with a problem, and this is important in relationships as well as you learning and getting information that can help your firm grow and learn how different firms have handled a problem or an issue, and to be able to have your firm excel from their learning experience sometimes.
Rita: I see this as informal mentoring, because I am learning from other people and the mentors are talented and they’re just naturally confident, and they’re great at what they do. They have a passion to share their craft, so I have been gaining a lot and I think this has been a very fruitful experience.
Julie: I want to remind our audience that this is a complimentary service and community, brought to you by Capital Group and you can join by going to RIAInsider.com and access the resources, tools and community that we have all talked about today. Catherine and Rita, I can’t thank you enough — great insights for the audience and future members.
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Catherine Farley
Rita Lee