Profiles in Client Engagement A High-Net-Worth Juggling Act: Meeting the Needs of Executive Women While all senior executives typically require a certain set of services from their financial advisors — ​­ ranging from navigating deferred compensation plans to assessing the sale of a privately held business — ​­ many female executives require a further set of distinct services that match the unique set of demands they face in their complex lives. Inside Whatever you need... An all-in-one solution A personal CFO for the CEO Actions to consider According to Nan Cohen, founder and CEO of Creekside Financial Advisors, “Many female executives often navigate nonlinear career paths and typically juggle more family and child-care demands than male counterparts. They also have to plan for a longer life expectancy.” Our extensive interviews with investment advisors across the country revealed some specific ways to help female executives.1 In this paper, we look at the strategies of three advisors who capitalized on the differences between highly successful male and female clients. We uncover what they learned and how they reshaped their practices to more effectively serve powerful women. 1 Research conducted during the period of July 16, 2012 to September 28, 2012, by Excella, Inc., an independent third-party marketing firm, on behalf of Fidelity Investments, with 20 participating firms. 2 3 4 5 “ here’s a risk to serving female T executives the way you would serve their male peers. Executive women often have different expectations of themselves, their money, and you.” — ylanne Dunne, Senior Vice President J Fidelity Investments .

Firms in focus: SignatureFD, LLC True Capital Advisors, LLC Creekside Financial Advisors, LLC Home Atlanta, Ga. Orlando, Fla. Pepper Pike, Ohio Leadership Page Harty, Partner Rebecca True, President Total Client Assets (June 30, 2015) $2.4 billion $60 million $278 million Typical Clients Individuals and families; average client size of $2.7 million Families; average client size in excess of $1 million Female executives, business owners, and widows; average client size of $1.4 million 2 Nan Cohen, Founder and CEO3 Whatever you need … “ hen a powerful woman knows W she can trust you, she asks for more. The trick, however, is to first get her attention.” —Page Harty, Partner, SignatureFD Page Harty and her fellow partners at Atlanta’s SignatureFD know the value of a strategy for developing female clients. In 2012, the firm launched SignatureWOMEN, an initiative dedicated to helping provide their female clients the same confidence in their financial lives that they feel in their professional lives. Harty is the market head for SignatureWOMEN, which has a stated mission of financially empowering women to use their wealth to live a great life. “Our clients are very smart and independent women — ​­ they range from their mid 40s to late 60s,” says Harty.

“As CEOs and busy professionals, time is an issue —they take care of their company, but are not always confident they are doing all they can with their executive benefits and personal wealth to be ready for what’s next in life. So we work with our clients to plan and set goals based on their whole life, not just their balance sheet.” essential and nonessential tasks,” says Harty. “The main goal is to clear away any hurdle that may prevent clients from focusing on their highest priorities.” Providing a Community Harty stresses, however, that due to the high standards of female executives, her referrals must be trusted providers. “Whatever the need, clients want to check it off the list — ​­ but they want it done right,” says Harty.

To that end, the referrals are personally known to Harty, her colleagues, or to a SignatureWOMEN client. Through SignatureWOMEN, Harty and her team have helped executive women become part of a community that connects them with people and resources that offer growth, encouragement, and inspiration. Thanks to SignatureWOMEN, “they get more than just help with essential financial matters,” explains Harty. The SignatureFD team has worked hard to provide its female clients the opportunity to grow. Through the SignatureWOMEN program, they host quarterly speaking events, health and wellness workshops, as well as womenonly getaways. These events focus on bringing together like-minded women and creating a deeper community for their executive women clients. Over time, Harty and her team “have developed an arsenal of personal contacts to help find resources necessary to help clients handle 2 Rebecca True offers services through Triad Advisors, Inc.

Member FINRA/SIPC. 3 Nan Cohen offers services through Securities America, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. 2   To date, SignatureFD’s strategy has been so successful that Harty and her colleagues have been compelled to expand their Rolodex to new sets of providers. “We’ve recently found someone who helps clients buy and sell high-end cars,” she says.

The net result for Harty and her team: they have helped their clients have more time to focus on issues like their investments, tax and estate planning, financial planning, and insurance. “Our female executive clients don’t have time to subcontract out each piece of their financial lives,” observes Harty. “That’s where we come in — ​ w ­ e’re like the general contractor who quarterbacks all their needs.” . An all-in-one solution Planning for a long life “ emale executives are decisive — F they’ve had to be to get to where they are in life.” “A big concern — ​­ matter how many no millions of dollars some of my female clients have — ​­ whether they have is enough to care for themselves in old age,” explains True. “They want to ensure they’re not a burden on their families.” — ebecca True, President, R True Capital Advisors Rebecca True has spent a career working with male and female executives. As president of True Capital Advisors in Central Florida, she’s seen the differences clearly. “Typically, men may use several investment providers for different slices of their portfolio, as well as a separate insurance provider,” says True. “Women in general, however, want to deal with one person for all their financial needs — ​­ simply saves them it time when they are juggling so much.” True has also seen a distinct difference in the areas that female executives ask her to focus on — ​­ namely, longevity planning and charitable giving. To help assuage concerns about longevity, True uses several tactics, including: • Clarifying clients’ cash flow, expenses, and desired lifestyle • Prioritizing future goals and needs • Developing and working through a checklist of various planning activities, such as tax strategy, investment diversification, and long-term-care planning “First and foremost, these exercises help give my female clients peace of mind in their working and preretirement years,” True says. “It also brings greater clarity on targets they need to reach to help ensure they’ll be self-sufficient throughout their lives.” Charitable giving As True’s clients near retirement, charitable planning often becomes increasingly important. “Many of our executive women have deferred compensation plans or other time-triggered financial incentives that may materialize as they get closer to retirement,” says True.

“These are good opportunities for us to think together about being more tax efficient with their giving.” Navigating a Career Change In Harty’s experience, female executives often express a desire to change careers well before the traditional retirement age — ​­ a decision Harty can help them fully assess. “It’s a complicated decision, and, as an advisor, you need to cover all the angles in their lives,” says Harty. “These women may have grown children or aging parents for whom they have financial responsibilities. There are many trade-offs to consider when developing a plan for transitioning to a new life.” Her advice for her male colleagues as they work with executive women: Listen. “Don’t be afraid to discuss these personal issues in detail,” she says. “These concerns are important to them — ​­ and they want to talk about them — ​­ even if you may cover ground you wouldn’t expect with a male clientele.” One word of caution from Harty: Don’t misinterpret a female client’s need to ask questions as a mistrust of you or your advice. “These executive women are taking in all the information you are providing,” says Harty, “and they are processing it just like any CEO of a company would.” “Being strategic and smart with giving is important to my female clients,” notes True.

“At the end of the day, they’re more focused on their philanthropy than my male clients are.”   3 . Strategically Building the BUSINESS So how did Rebecca True build such a strong clientele of female executives? “I work hard at developing centersof-influence (COI) relationships,” she explains. “I let these partners know that I focus on serving professional and executive women. They appreciate knowing my target market and how I best serve this niche—it allows them to provide referrals that fit my ideal client profile.” While True works with traditional divorce, real estate, and estate planning attorneys, she also has built strong relationships with businesses owned by women, including one that provides outsourced CFO services to companies with $5 million to $50 million in revenue. “Working with these businesses has been fantastic for sourcing female executives,” True says. “It’s important for advisors to think outside the box when building professional relationships.” With many of her COI relationships, True focuses on opportunities to meet, collaborate with, and get to know one another’s clients.

For example, they host joint events, inviting their respective clients. When events are for her clients only, she’ll encourage them to bring a friend. “Typically, these are small gatherings like a wine tasting or a nice dinner,” True says. “Many women like to learn and connect with other women. When you combine the two, then they really like to participate in the activity you invite them to.” A personal CFO for the CEO “ create ways to help very I successful professional women be as organized in their financial lives as they are in their business lives.” — an Cohen, Founder and CEO N Creekside Financial Advisors For Nan Cohen of Creekside Financial Advisors, one element is essential to success with female executives: customization. “No two sets of circumstances for women are the same,” says Cohen. “Yes, they have distinct needs from men, including longer life spans and often interrupted career paths.

But they also have distinct needs from one another. Are they married? Widowed? Do they have children? You have to plan for a myriad of factors.” Cohen considers all these factors when conducting financial planning for her female clients. However, a few factors typically take priority: • Time demands. “My clients want a partner who eliminates the time demands of managing money,” Cohen explains.

“My approach is to become my client’s personal CFO, no different from her business’s CFO.” As an example, Cohen explains that her firm provides each client with a personal financial Web page that’s supported by eMoney software. “We show them their net worth and cash flow, in a way that’s not all that different from a profit and loss statement.” • Future goals and obligations. Cohen’s female clients are less concerned about their long-term security, focusing more on career and personal development. “They want help pivoting their careers to their passions, like community development or a nonprofit organization.” It’s in these situations that women want to know, “What’s my flexibility in the future if I move from a power position to a contributory role?” To help these women, Cohen relies on thoughtprovoking questions, such as: –  hat’s most important to you: W getting the biggest bucket of money or giving back as a volunteer? –  hat’s the possibility of finding W a paid position in a not-for-profit organization that allows you to still meet your lifestyle needs? One additional strategy she employs is arranging coffee or lunch with a nonprofit executive director. “My clients want to understand the pressures and challenges before they jump,” says Cohen.

“With my help, including the peer-to peer networking I offer, they see the trade-offs in advance and are better able to evaluate if they are willing to make them.” • Aging parents. “A common theme,” Cohen says, “is a desire to work less so they can help their parents more.” Cohen asks clients questions that bring this issue into focus: –  re your parents healthy and selfA sufficient? – What is their financial situation? –  hat about siblings? Can or will W they help? “Life throws you curveballs,” Cohen adds. “There may be potential conflicts within a family.

A woman executive needs to understand what this means for her.” 4   . Actions to consider With these real-life examples serving as inspiration, we hope you can uncover opportunities to more effectively serve and develop executive women as clients. The following principles capture some of the best practices of the financial advisors we interviewed: • Help clients through major career and lifestyle changes. As Nan Cohen and Page Harty share, lifestyle factors and family responsibilities can become more important when working with executive women. Yes, they still face many of the same financial challenges as their male counterparts, including evaluating stock options and deferred compensation plans.

Advisors should ask about career plans, however, when working with executive women. Explore any responsibilities they may have to parents, siblings, or even grown children. Identifying and discussing these issues with clients can help you build higher degrees of trust, expand relationships, and enhance loyalty. • Expand the meaning of a “single point of contact.” Time is a precious commodity for all executives, and particularly professional women. As Page Harty emphasized, a single point of contact is especially appealing to such clients. You may want to consider offering a comprehensive set of financial services.

If your firm doesn’t have all the in-house capabilities, then you may want to explore building a strong network of trusted partners to whom you can refer clients as part of your core service. If it makes sense for your practice, take another cue from Harty and “explore ways to build and offer a community where like-minded women professionals can come together for growth, encouragement, and inspiration.” • Be creative in nurturing COI relationships. As Rebecca True showed us, a little creativity and determination can go a long way. To help expand your client base of executive women, you may want to consider mirroring her approach: –  evelop COI relationships with D people and firms that actively serve professional women. –  lan joint activities that bring P female clients together in an educational environment. –  ocus on events that are small enough F to provide a chance to network with everyone you invite. Watch Out for Overspending In her efforts to help female executives, Nan Cohen often encounters a common mistake: overspending. “At a certain income and asset level, some women simply stop worrying about the purchases they make because it doesn’t affect their daily lifestyle,” says Cohen.

“However, unmonitored spending can snowball to become an expensive habit before you know it.” To help clients understand their spending, Cohen has ongoing conversations about their goals and their responsibilities to their family and to themselves. “A financial advisor can also uncover many hidden needs in these conversations,” says Cohen. “For example, a discussion about siblings may uncover responsibilities that I never factored into the overall financial plan— such as caring for a disabled loved one. If you can keep clients focused on such priorities, spending becomes much more apparent to them.”   5 .

For additional information, please contact your Fidelity representative or visit Go.Fidelity.com/insightsonadvice to learn more. For investment professional use only. Not for distribution to the public as sales material in any form. Fidelity Investments does not provide advice of any kind. You should conduct your own analysis, review, and due diligence based on your specific situation. You are responsible for evaluating your own specific needs and making appropriate decisions.

Those decisions may be based on these and other factors you deem relevant. The information provided herein is not meant to be exhaustive of all possible options you may consider. Content related to the advisory firms profiled was provided exclusively by Signature FD, True Capital Advisors, and Creekside Financial Advisors. These firms are clients of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services (IWS) or National Financial (NF) and are independent companies, unaffiliated with Fidelity Investments. Their business needs and results may not reflect the experience of other IWS or NF clients.

Their input herein does not suggest a recommendation or endorsement by Fidelity. There is no form of legal partnership, agency, affiliation, or similar relationship between an investment professional, the third parties, and Fidelity Investments, nor is such a relationship created or implied by the information herein. The opinions expressed by the third-party speakers are their own and Fidelity Investments is not responsible for the content of their remarks.

Information is as of June 30, 2015. Third-party marks are the property of their respective owners; all other marks are the property of FMR LLC. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc., 500 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917 Fidelity Clearing and Custody provides clearing, custody, and other brokerage services through National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. 200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210 © 2015 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. 632500.2.01.952912.101 0915 .