TFC's Downtown Office Location Indicates Implied Client Profile and Target Market

The Financial Collaborative, Inc. was formed in December of 1980 by five individuals, each with different professional backgrounds:

• Fred Pryor, long-time head of new business at the New England Merchants National Bank, Trust Department
• Warner Henderson, trained as a financial advisor through the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Program
• Gordon Snyder, a practicing attorney in tax and estate planning
• Steve O'Neill, HNW Personal Risk and Casualty and Property insurance specialist
• Myself, Jim Joslin

With the nucleus of the team in place we began to evolve our definition of the client service model.

After Fred Pryor had left the bank, he worked with a Boston RIA attempting to reach the HNW market employing the "implementation-fee" approach espoused by SRI. However, Fred had become convinced the "fee-for-service" fiduciary model was the key to a long-term client relationship. In his words:

"Although the progression of personal financial planning started in the late 70s, it really did not come into vogue until the early ‘80s. Personal Financial Planning was the motivating force that formed The Financial Collaborative, the forerunner of TFC Financial Management. Most planners of that time were solo operators or ‘mom and pop' organizations in suburban locations. The idea of ‘group' planning was the basis of our approach. Five individuals with different professional backgrounds came together; these backgrounds included a lawyer, an investment person, a risk management practitioner, a Trust officer, and an individual who had a planning background and who also had early computer skills."

"As each high net worth client signed up with the firm, fee-only planning was done on a group basis, and then a written plan delivered in a set of meetings evolved. The firm looked at itself as the ‘Quarterback,' which brought in other professionals when needed. These outside professionals included tax preparers and estate planning attorneys, who implemented the recommendations of the planning group."

Building A Specialized Client Support Network of Other Professionals

The Financial Collaborative resolved to remain in the downtown Boston financial district for a variety of reasons. The location had close access to the type of specialized legal advice clients might need, as well as to top-of-the-line investment manager research to support our supplemental active manager portfolio construction activities. Being in the downtown financial district made it easier for out-of-town fund management companies to cover TFC's portfolio management needs, and being located in the heart of the financial district we thought might give prospects and clients a heightened sense of gravitas.

Although slightly inconvenient for some clients, being downtown also meant TFC could further develop close relationships with client account custodians Charles Schwab and Fidelity, as well as provide regular contact with the likes of DFA, BCA, and other resources useful to the portfolio management equation. Further, other professional organizations — the CFA Society, Boston Economics Club, Boston Estate Planning Council, the Boston Committee on Foreign Relations, and a host of others — would facilitate interactions that would keep TFC abreast of contemporary trends in the financial and international advisory world.

And so the firm was initially situated on Union Wharf, and during the next 25 years moved temporarily to the second floor at Quincy Market, back to Union Wharf, then to 176 Federal Street, 30 Federal Street, and today to 260 Franklin Street; an odyssey which at each new location meant slightly improved client and staff surroundings, but all aimed at delivering a better client experience.

Renée Kwok Joins TFC

Renée Kwok joined TFC in 1993, having started her career at a Hong Kong investment bank and been part of Putnam's international investment research effort. Thus began her path to today's management of TFC Financial.

Since then, she says, "I have worn many hats at TFC, starting as a financial planning analyst on all aspects of our business; there isn't a job I haven't done in the firm." She assumed the CEO role in 2018 and recently became majority owner which she notes makes TFC nationally one of the few woman-owned firms in which two-thirds of the employees are also female. In addition to managing the firm, she spends most of her time working with clients, particularly in what she calls "crisis management." This means helping clients navigate planned or unplanned "life transitions" such as career changes, divorce or the death of a spouse, and end-of-life issues by "planning in advance of a crisis."

In addition to financial planning and investment management, TFC works with clients on charitable giving strategies and recently, under Renée's guidance, started its own foundation, a "decision with a long-term purpose which is tied to TFC's core values," according to Kwok. "One key part of our mission as advisors is to advance personal financial literacy; but that alone is insufficient… the challenge comes from the psychology of it, for example, applying the lessons of behavioral economics and finance to alter one's comfort level with the money equation. Literacy without behavioral understanding is not effective."

Renée Kwok has been recognized by InvestmentNews in their 2019 selection of Women to Watch for her successful leadership in the financial advisory industry, sharing her expertise with colleagues, and dedication to giving back through actions such as building the TFC Financial Charitable Foundation.

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Proceed to Fashioning A Useful Personal Financial Plan Prototype >
 
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