Take the plunge
How life’s major transitions provided opportunity for Nancy Leizman’s private wealth practice
“Times in life when people are going through major transitions, there’s always an opportunity to provide them with another point of view.”
Nancy Leizman doesn’t just know this because she’s a skilled financial advisor who’s spent 37 years helping clients pursue their biggest goals. Leizman is living through these major life transitions herself.
And it’s provided a major opportunity for her private wealth practice.
Business by proximity
Leizman was riding out the early pandemic lockdowns in the Florida sunshine and decided to look at some properties before heading back to her home in Cleveland. Before she knew it, she was negotiating a real estate deal from the road en route to Virginia.
“The pandemic really shifted people’s attitudes and made them envision what they wanted in their lives, what they planned to do. There was an acceleration of determining the next phase of life,” Leizman says.
She was doing the same.
Now empty nesters, Leizman and her husband wanted to split time between their beloved Cleveland hometown and the Florida beaches. She had a feeling the move would be good for business too – it didn’t disappoint.
Moving to Florida part time has not only expanded her network but has put her in a circle of peers who are experiencing similar life events.
“We’re in an environment with people who are very successful,” she says. “They are in a similar stage in life with similar interests, and business is just an extension of the conversation.”
Business by proximity, Leizman calls it.
It didn’t hurt that the pandemic motivated people to get their financial, business and legal affairs in order. And Leizman was at the ready to provide a fresh perspective.
“If you are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and can offer more resources to your clients, that’s a compelling value proposition.”
Quality over quantity
“In 1987, I was a stockbroker,” Leizman recalls. “We were called financial advisors but what we were doing was very, very different than being the trusted advisor building a wealth management practice in serving the complicated needs of high-net-worth families.”
When she first started working with private wealth clients, it was out of a desire to provide high-quality service to fewer clients. She was a busy mom and wife who had big career goals and aspirations for growing her practice. Focusing on high-net-worth families seemed to be the right direction to scale her business.
As Leizman sees it: “There should be three times as many successful women in this business because this is where you can determine who your clients are, what markets you want to serve, and your schedule to some extent.”
She loves that serving private wealth clientele allows her to solve complex problems all day. It’s never about providing a one-off solution or quoting a financial product. Tax laws change, family structures change, businesses get sold … there’s always a challenge and something new to add to the equation.
“It’s very gratifying to work with generations of people and to get to know them and to be that trusted person for them. You are developing lifelong relationships with people and guiding them through major life events,” she says. “Sometimes you’re their first phone call in an emergency. You’re helping people in stressful times provide some non-emotional guardrails on the decision-making process.”
Support system
Leizman was proud to be part of the inaugural Private Wealth Advisor Program at Raymond James, which she says helped “sharpen her saw.”
“The benefit in going through the program is that ability to access comprehensive advice and to tailor that advice to the needs of ultra-high-net-worth families. We have an incredibly deep bench of professionals at Raymond James – so I act as the concierge to access all those resources.”
She attributes much of her career success to taking advantage of opportunities like these.
Her experiences have taught her that you can’t say “yes” to everything, but when there are opportunities to further your knowledge or build relationships, raise your hand.
“One piece of advice I would have for any advisor is to get on an advisory council. Raise your hand to serve on an internal committee. You will learn a lot about the business. You will build relationships at the home office that will help your business. The time invested will come back to you threefold.”
Private Wealth Advisor is a designation awarded by Raymond James to financial advisors who have demonstrated mastery in anticipating and managing the expansive financial needs of high-net-worth individuals, families and organizations.
This piece was featured in Aspire Magazine, a biannual publication from the Women Financial Advisors Network. View the latest.
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