Carla Koren knew she wanted to be an investment professional when she graduated from college 25 years ago. Since then, she’s worked for a number of firms, joining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in 1997, along with her partner, Gena Harper. But it was a conscious effort to forge a well-thought-out strategic plan that really propelled the team to the success they now enjoy. “That allowed us to get to the next level,” says Koren.

Now a Senior Vice President-Wealth Management and Senior Investment Management Consultant in Berkeley, California, Koren’s practice has been one of the top 3% to 5% producers in the company for many years.

Koren began her career as a Financial Advisor at Paine Weber right out of school. A year or two later, she partnered with Harper, a friend and colleague at the firm. In 1990, they moved to what was then Dean Witter. Seven years later, due to a change in leadership at Dean Witter and after careful deliberation, the team moved their practice to Smith Barney in 1997.

Not long after, the partners decided it was to time to position the practice for higher growth. Koren had learned about the importance of building a long-term strategic plan from the volunteer work she did for such nonprofit organizations as Girls Inc. of Alameda County and the Super Stars Literacy Program. Their practice, she realized, needed an injection of the same discipline. “I came into work one day and said, we need our own plan. We need to understand the metrics of this business,” she says. The partners hired a consultant on their own to help conduct an analysis of how they did their business. The revenues and assets under management needed to reach specific levels of growth over a five-year period.

Inter-generational planning

A few years later, the partners took the next step: pinpointing the type of service and clients to focus on. Specifically, that meant concentrating on inter-generational planning, an area the partners had informally gravitated to for many years. Says Koren, “Our best client is the owner of a closely held business. We work with that client and all the generations and relationships which that client influences.”

To that end, the partners help address all aspects of a client’s life which are affected or influenced by money--everything from personal investments to business strategies. At one recent meeting, for example, a client discussed the possibility of amending his company’s 401(k) plan, a recommendation made by his accountant. “But, in the same breath, he said he was worried about losing key employees,” says Koren. She recommended that they hold off on making the change until they analyzed the matter more closely. The client ended up not amending the plan.

The core of their approach, however, is working with an entire family. Koren points to a couple, now in their 70’s, whom she started working with about eight years or so ago. Not long before Koren met them, the husband and wife had given their business to their two sons. Since then, Koren has worked with the couple on estate planning strategies and investment management. With the sons, who have married and had children since first meeting Koren, she has helped them tackle such issues as estate planning, buy-sell agreements, and discover options for setting up a 401(k). “Today, we work with the grandparents, their two sons, their families and their business,” she says. When business problems arise, it’s Koren they often call; she either handles the issue or directs them to an appropriate outside professional.

For Koren, the profession is one she still finds exciting after all these years. While she cautions that success requires putting in a “significant amount of time”, especially in the beginning, she also likes the flexibility the work affords which enables her to integrate her business with the priorities of her family and volunteer life. “As a financial advisor, you have critically important flexibility and control which enables me to have some form of life balance which is not available in most careers--That’s why it’s a great profession for women.”

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