Family First
Jamie Greenleaf
PLANADVISER: What did the planning and preparation work look like, to pass the business from mother to daughter?
Jamie Greenleaf: I was fortunate enough to work with my mother straight out of college, so I literally grew up in the industry and after graduating got my financial adviser certification. The transition, which was in 2011, was easy from that standpoint. All the clients knew me, and I knew all of them, but it was a slow transition. My husband and I were buying Dorann’s business, so, of course, she wanted to be assured that it would be there to support her payout.
PA: How did clients learn that you would be their new adviser?
Greenleaf: We had worked as a team for meetings, prior to her retiring. We did the meetings jointly unless one of us couldn’t make it. She was phasing out but would always be available. Clients were not specifically told.
Dorann wanted to be sure there was a smooth transition. She would spend more time in Ireland in the summer, so clients were able to get to know me better and would become used to her not being around. She rode off into the sunset slowly over several years.
PA: How is Cafaro Greenleaf set up?
Greenleaf: Since COVID, business models have changed. Everyone is expected to be available 24/7 instead of having set hours and set boundaries. My husband and I own the building where our offices are, so we’re lucky enough to have been in the office through the pandemic. It’s an old home, and almost everyone has use of what was a bedroom. We have a team approach. I’m the lead adviser, and then we have client service relationship managers, investment individuals, marketing and operations. There are no additional advisers.
PA: Were there difficulties within the transition from Cafaro to Cafaro Greenleaf?
Greenleaf: My husband also came into the business at that time, and we were moving from a mom-and-pop shop into a more traditional business. That was a transition for my mother. She wasn’t used to looking at things through the bottom line, from an efficiency standpoint. My husband came in, and he made it a business, when before we were a consulting firm. From a client standpoint it was relatively easy, but from a business model it was more difficult. Looking long term, if I were to sell to a partner or my kids, I think they’d have different ideas about where they’d want to bring the business. That’s probably the biggest challenge traditionally.
My mother will always be involved in the business, because she’s my mother and because she still knows many clients. Maybe the business has changed or the people have changed, but she’s always interested in hearing about it. —Judy Faust Hartnett