32 CEO MONTHLY / GLOBAL CEO EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2019 , May19443 JM Finn is an experienced wealth management firm dedicated to providing tailored solutions for its over 18,000 clients. Award-winning CEO Steven Sussman explores how he is helping this company to build upon and enhance its nearly 75-year legacy of excellence. Wealth Planning & Preservation CEO of the Year 2019 - UK Since its inception in 1945 JM Finn has been focused on providing a high quality, professional and personal service, which is increasingly becoming a point of differentiation for the firm in today’s competitive market. Working primarily with private clients, the firm aims to build long standing relationships. In today’s wealth management space, where robo-advisors and automation are increasingly making clients feel like just part of a list, JM Finn aims to offer a personalised, human service to each and every client it has the pleasure of working with. Such a dedicated, longstanding company needs strong, experienced leadership. Steven has been with the firm for more than two decades, and draws on immense industry experience in wealth management and private banking to support him in his current role, as he outlines in his opening comments. “Over the years I have worked hard to gain the experience I need to drive JM Finn forward and maintain its longstanding reputation for excellence. Initially I gained a degree in Business Studies and undertook my Chartered Accountant training. However, early into my training I realised that I did not want to practice accountancy. “Seeking an exciting new role, I started my career in the investment banking arm of HSBC (Wardleys) before moving to a small merchant bank, Granville Plc where I become Group Finance Director. Then in 1997 I joined JM Finn as Managing Partner. Later, in 2007 the company was incorporated as a private limited company and I became Managing Director, before being made CEO in 2015 following the sale of the business to Delen Private Bank. The structure of a larger firm allied to the flexibility and dynamics of a smaller firm allowed me to experience all aspects of the financial services industry and stood me in good stead before taking up the role at JM Finn.” Having witnessed the firm evolve, Steven is able to create an innovative strategy to grow the company and drive it to even greater success, as he highlights. “As a Partnership our sole ethos was to put the client first. When we sold to Delen we ensured that they shared our goal. They are long term investors, they know over time that client loyalty and satisfaction will pay dividends. Ours is a service business where our people and our clients are the two key stakeholders. Thanks to the quality of our people we service our clients extremely well, as demonstrated by the feedback we get from our client surveys. “Looking ahead, our ongoing strategy is to continue to grow the business without compromising the extremely high levels of service we give to our clients. We expect growth to come from a balance of organic growth and acquisition. For the latter, by maintaining our focus on delivering a personal service, often in contrast to many of our competitors who are going down a more centralised investment route, we believe we can attract teams of managers to join our ranks. “Organic growth is clearly the more preferable option but in the highly competitive environment of the wealth management industry it requires a more detailed approach. Looking at the intelligence we gather from our client surveys we have learned that our clients are willing and keen to promote us, and we all know that our best ambassadors will be happy clients. We therefore focus on engaging our existing client base across a broad events programme and content platform to give us the opportunity to enquire about referrals. Additionally, the strategy is to focus on wealth transfer which draws on our abilities to offer a comprehensive wealth management service, through which we can advise on appropriate and tax efficient retirement and estate planning strategies. This is a service we are seeing an increasing need for, and as such we are eager to offer it to meet our clients’ ever evolving needs.” Ultimately, this flexible, innovative approach to wealth management services will remain central to JM Finn’s strategy as this dynamic and proactive company looks towards a bright and opportunityfilled future. Company: JM Finn Name: Steven Sussman Address: 4 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5TA Telephone: 020 7600 1660 Web Address: www.jmfinn.com Steven Sussman, JM Finn
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