Steve Gresham is executive vice president and director of retail markets for Phoenix Investment Partners, Ltd., a $42 billion asset-management division of The Phoenix Companies, Inc.(NYSE - PNX). He is also senior vice president - asset management distribution, for The Phoenix Companies, Inc.
Prior to joining Phoenix in July 2001, he managed his own wealth-management consulting firm -- The Gresham Company, LLC. Clients included Merrill Lynch International, where he helped develop the Private Wealth advisory program, as well as Schwab Institutional, National Financial, Citibank Private Bank, Prudential Investments, Goldman Sachs and AIM Distributors. He has worked with over 50 domestic and international financial services firms.
He began his career in 1980 as a security analyst and portfolio manager for the US advisor to The Central Group of Canada, Ltd. (ASE - CEF). After building a successful investment advisory practice at Advest, Inc., during 1983-87, he managed Advest's mutual fund and managed account businesses through 1991, developing some of the industry's first fee-based accounts, including separately managed accounts, advisor-managed portfolios and non-discretionary, fee-based brokerage. He then returned to Wall Street to lead retail asset management distribution for Systematic Financial Management, Inc. (1991-94) and Weiss, Peck & Greer, LLC (1994-97). In 1995 at WPG, he created and launched The Tomorrow Funds, a lifecycle mutual fund series offering target maturities.
Mr. Gresham is active in industry media having appeared on CNN, CNN fn, Bloomberg Radio and Television, USA Network and PBS, and in Business Week, Fortune and The New York Times. He is the author of The Managed Account Handbook (Connecticut River Press, 2002 and in Japan by Nikko Cordial Advisors, 2006) and Attract and Retain the Affluent Investor (Dearborn Trade, 2001), which have together sold in excess of 20,000 copies. He authored the monthly column, Wealth Manager, for On Wall Street magazine for four years, 2001-2005, and wrote a monthly column, Managed Accounts, for Registered Rep magazine, 2004-2005. He currently authors another Registered Rep monthly column, Retirement Doctor, with his father, retired physician, Dr. Glen E. Gresham. His bylines appear regularly in Investment News. He is currently working a new book, Advisor for Life, scheduled for release in early 2007.
Mr. Gresham serves on the executive council of the board of governors at The Money Management Institute and is a founding board member of The Money Management Institute International. He was formerly a director of The Institute for Certified Investment Management Consultants and a member of the advisory board of the Association for Professional Investment Consultants (APIC). He is an independent director of Chase Investment Counsel Corporation in Charlottesville, VA. Mr. Gresham is a graduate of Brown University.
TOPICS:
• Attract and Retain the Affluent Investor: Consulting Update 2006
• The Managed Account Handbook: How to Enhance a Successful Financial Advisory Practice
Using Managed Accounts
• Alpha Drivers: 19 Point Checkup for Your Successful Practice
CLIENT QUOTES
"There is no one in this industry who understands the psychology of the affluent investor better than Steve Gresham. Steve's book will help any financial advisor understand the important protocol of attracting and retaining assets of the affluent investor."
--Frank Campanale, President and Chief Executive Officer, Salomon Smith Barney
"Steve has been a valued advisor to me and our company. We value his insights and find his candor refreshing. He sees the financial world from a unique perspective -- he knows both the client and the advisor. Financial advisors and industry executives alike can benefit from Steve's insights as they strive to succeed in this ferociously competitive marketplace."
John Philip Coghlan, Vice Chairman, Charles Schwab
"Gresham is an expert on today's affluent client. The book is packed with unique insights and actionable advice on how to better serve this complex and growing market by becoming a true wealth manager."
Michael J. Cemo, President, AIM Distributors, Inc.
"Stephen has an in-depth understanding of the financial services global marketplace and brings to our Financial Consultants a reality check of the ultra high-net worth client's wants and needs."
Steven E. Dear, First Vice President, Director of Training and Organizational Development, Merrill Lynch International Private Client Group
"Steve has established himself as a valuable resource to the financial services industry. His keen insights into the marketing of products and services offered by financial service professionals have made him a sought- after speaker and consultant. I look forward to working with him on an ongoing basis."
Bud Elsea, Director of Education, Financial Planning Association
"The financial services' industry is going through is greatest change ever -- driven by the demographics, the Internet and technology. Steve is one of the few people in the industry who is qualified to guide a distribution system through this maze"
Leonard A. Reinhart, Chairman & CEO ,Lockwood Financial Services, Inc.
PARTIAL CLIENT LIST:
AIG SunAmerica
American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries
Anadolu Hyatt
Citigroup
Comerica Bank
EPIC Advisors
GreatWestLife Insurance
Great Oaks Education
Hospitality Industry Association
HR Magazine
IBC Investment Advice Conferences
International Business Foundation
Istanbul Morning Business
Lohrman Education Association
Mercy Health Association
Merrill Lynch
Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems
Michigan Bankers Association
Midwest Trust School
Partnership for a Cooperative Egypt
Principal Financial
Prometheus Institute
Prudential
Securities Industry Association
United States Agency for International Development
USA's e-Commerce Conferences
Western Pension and Benefits Conference
Winston Advisors
TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS:
Attract and Retain the Affluent Investor: Consulting Update 2006
What do top advisors need to know right now to best position themselves for success within the rapidly changing market for financial advice? The baby boom generation has begun to make its mark, sending traditional advisory firms scrambling to adapt after years of bull market coasting. Boomers face many challenges avoided by the more affluent silent generation, creating more opportunity for advisors ready to respond.
• What are the five guiding principles for an advisory practice in 2006?
• What do millionaire households expect from advisors?
• How are baby boomers changing the market for financial advice?
• Which tools can help increase your prospecting and closing success with affluent clients?
• What are the four most important portfolio adjustments for the current market?
The Managed Account Handbook: How to Enhance a Successful Financial Advisory Practice Using Managed Accounts
Both the keynote and workshop provide the rationale and appeal of a consultative investment advisory process to affluent families, supported by industry data and market research. Emphasis is on how the transition to a more consultative, fee-based approach is really an evolution of the already successful advisor's practice. Case studies and tactics are further supported by specific tools to be used by advisors to help transition existing clients and to more successfully prospect for new households. The workshop content is more detailed and can be customized to reflect the advisory firm's product and service offerings.
Alpha Drivers: 19 Point Checkup for Your Successful Practice
The very best financial advisors are always trying to improve the quality of their services and the profitability of their practices. Steve Gresham has applied the best practices of top advisors to a 19 point list of key alpha drivers - the services most valued by affluent households. Suitable for audiences of all experience levels and tenure, this data-based presentation reveals the most important concerns and goals of millionaire households and then presents solutions to add advisor value in three areas: investment counsel, wealth advice and relationship management. This popular workshop was created based on a full year research project involving top financial advisors.
TRAVELS FROM: Connecticut
FEE CATEGORY: C ($10.5 to 15k)
