In the tradition-bound world of private wealth management, it's rare to encounter someone with a resume quite like Amy Zehnder's.
No accounting degree, no background in law, and definitely not the predictable MBA. The centerpiece of Zehnder's credentials is a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology, which for her chosen field pairs nicely with her years of experience as a "professional certified executive coach."
In layman's terms, Zehnder is that rare breed of banker who aims to discover, and untangle, the individual and family dynamics underlying great private wealth, while also trying to increase that wealth for clients.
The need for such services is clear. According to Scott Winget, senior managing director of wealth planning at U.S. Bank's new Ascent Private Capital Management division, 70 percent of family wealth doesn't survive beyond the third generation—not because of bad investments or estate taxes, but because of what he calls "a lack of communication and trust within a family."
Winget hired Zehnder this past June as a managing director and senior wealth dynamics coach at Ascent. Serving clients with a minimum of $25 million in investable family assets, Zehnder works right alongside Ascent's private wealth professionals as she meets with multiple generations of families in order to evaluate how much they trust each other, and how they communicate their individual philosophies regarding the preservation and growth of their considerable wealth.
To do her job, Zehnder can spend as many as nine hours with a single family member to help get a wide-angle shot of the overall family "wealth dynamic."
"It's during those hours of discussion that we'll talk intensely about such values as loyalty, personal freedom, health, security and spirituality," Zehnder says. "These interviews can get very personal as we go into relationships among family members and the perceptions of what kinds of resources are at stake."
Getting wealthy families to talk candidly about their financial concerns is "one of the most difficult things to do," Zehnder says. "It's easier to talk to one's children about sex than about finances. It remains one of those great taboos."
Zehnder's unusual marriage of psychology and executive coaching skills impressed Winget and Ascent President Michael Cole—both of whom became aware of Zehnder's work while all three were working at Wells Fargo.
"I had heard about Amy's great reputation for being so enthusiastic and most importantly for doing great work building teams and developing leaders," Winget says. "And with her background in psychology and outside coaching, I knew she was exactly the kind of person to fill this position."
Zehnder's appointment represents a full-time commitment to provide a service that most of its competitors typically farm out to independent consultants. "To have me 100 percent integrated, fully at the table, with the other wealth planners working on issues of internal family trust and communication—that's pretty unique to Ascent and U.S. Bank," says the 45-year old Zehnder, who is a native of U.S. Bank's home state of Minnesota but is based at Ascent's office in Denver.
Zehnder approaches each family as if it were a flesh-and-blood Rubik's Cube, composed of interlocking, and occasionally mismatched, elements of temperament and values, core talents and beliefs. She also has to wrestle with the often knotty generational differences that can divide many families. The information that Zehnder sometimes finds to be the most elusive, and most revealing, is which family members wield the most financial decision-making clout.
"Often times, the patriarchs and matriarchs of families are the ones who have created so much of the wealth, but are of that silent generation that doesn't like to talk about it," Zehnder explains. "So the trick is to get them to realize that they can't manage those long-term assets from the grave."
It's during these sensitive conversations that Zehnder evinces one of her strongest professional skills: her ability to listen.
"She is a truly fantastic listener," says Ascent's Cole. "More importantly, as an engaged listener, she becomes so incredibly approachable that she can adapt to many different client styles."
Zehnder's ears are especially attuned to Ascent's private wealth clients when they respond to one of her favorite questions: How proud are you to be a member of this family? "Their answer to that question," Zehnder says, "gives me a great indication of the level of harmony and pride within the family, and the level of resulting cohesiveness that should lead them to the kind of successful wealth transfer for generations to come."
The exercise can be cathartic for the family members themselves.
"By truly listening and getting families to open up, a sense of huge relief comes over them as financial issues are finally brought into the open after being held in for so long," Zehnder says. "I frankly hear stuff that you could never make up."
