The Winner's Circle

An Expanding FootprintThis year the team opened a dedicated office in Naples, Fla. “About 45 percent of our clients spend time in southwest Florida, and we were spending a lot of time traveling back and forth to service them,” Peter says. “We finally realized that we had enough volume there to service clients, and that region is also a good market for developing business.” Managing that office is their newest partner, Steve Smith, the team’s specialist in the areas of trust services and lending. He spent most of his career with a major trust company. He is supported by Yadira Vintimilla.

An integral part of the team’s expansion beyond the home office in central Ohio is working with a group of “virtual partners,” advisors around the country who have clients that need the high-touch services that require the depth and breadth of the Cenname Team. Typically these advisors have a client who has had a significant cash event, such as selling a family business, and suddenly the advisors have $200 million or more that they need help managing, Peter says.

“These advisors understand that they probably can’t keep that in their book, so they look for a team like ours to work with,” Peter says.

Why the Cenname Team?Augie once asked a client why he chose the Cenname Team. The client’s response: “I like your team’s ideas, the way you all think, and the way you all work together. And most of all, I love my relationship with the team”

Augie smiles proudly. “This is the reason why we have clients.”

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The Austin/Decher GroupSmith BarneyNewport News, VA

Family TiesPopular culture likes to differentiate between “family of origin” and “family of choice.” Wanda Austin has seamlessly combined the two, building a team around the nucleus made up of herself, her husband and her daughter, and then extending that family relationship to both the team’s two other members and every client she works with.

“In many ways I feel blessed,” Wanda says. “It sounds like bragging, but we have a wonderful relationship. It’s rare there has ever been a personal conflict around the business.”

It helps, of course, that, unlike the traditional family, everybody’s role is clearly defined. Wanda and her husband, John Decher III, are both senior vice presidents and wealth management specialists, and her daughter Christina Austin, is a financial advisor and unofficial chief operating officer. All three have an ownership interest in the business, but at the end of the day, Wanda Austin is in charge.

“I have the final say, but that’s never been necessary,” Wanda says. “All decisions are based on team input, and everyone is treated equally, even if they are not family members.”

While those roles are clearly defined today, the structure itself was more of an evolutionary process, not a management decision. In fact, 20 years ago, nothing could have been farther from Wanda’s mind. When she started her business in 1982, she was a single mother, making cold calls with Christina sitting beside her doing homework.

“Christina always swore she’d never go into this business,” Wanda laughs.

Even when she married Decher, another advisor working in the same branch, in 1987, it never occurred to her to merge books.

“He was an old-fashioned stock jock,” Wanda says. Meanwhile, Wanda has always been about building deep, personal relationships with her clients around long-term financial plans.

That changed when the couple was in a car accident soon after their wedding. She managed his book for nearly four months while he recuperated, catching the attention of their branch manager, who thought the two practices were a perfect fit. Still, it took nearly five years for Wanda and Decher to see the light.

In 1992 they formally joined forces, with Wanda doing the financial planning and Decher implementing the investment strategy.

“That’s what he really enjoys, so he is the in-house money manager,” Wanda says. “I love the people. I am totally a people person. I really enjoy getting down to the nuts and bolts of it, knowing the families and the relationships within the families. Our clients become an extended family of our family.” Wanda says of her team: “Our No. 1 objective is to make a powerful difference in the lives of our clients and their families.”

Christina came aboard five years later. Fresh out of college, she was just going to help with the administration side for a few months. Ten years later, Christina is still sitting across the office from her mother, separated only by a pair of French doors, and now a partner.

“She listens and observes, and makes sure all of the information goes wherever it needs to be,” Wanda says. With Wanda building deep relationships with clients — especially in a small town — many of Wanda’s clients have seen Christina grow up. “They love working with Christina, and now my daughter is working with their children.” Christina and Wanda are together during most client meetings, getting to know the families and understanding their long-term goals and ensuring continuity in the process.

“Clients love that,” she says. “People rely on us so much in so many different aspects that they worry about what is going to happen 20 years from now; so they love the idea of Christina being involved in those meetings. It gives them a sense of security.”

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R.J. Shook is founder and President of the Winner’s Circle, LLC. The firm’s research appears in three annual Barron’s cover stories, and is featured in dozens of regional publications including San Francisco Business Times, Los Angeles Business Journal, Crain’s Detroit Business, and Connecticut Magazine. The 3rd annual Barron’s/Winner’s Circle Top Advisor Summit is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 and the Women’s summit for Nov. 28-30. For more information visit www.WCorg.com. The Winner’s Circle is a registered trademark of The Winner’s Circle, LLC.

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COVER PHOTO: Christina Austin and Wanda Austin of Smith Barney (front row); August Cenname and Michael Denti of Merrill Lynch (front row); John Decher of Smith Barney (back row); Peter Motta, Charles Jarrett and Stephen Smith of Merrill Lynch (back row).