Advisor Spotlight with Chad Keim, Sturgis, MI

26 Jul Advisor Spotlight with Chad Keim, Sturgis, MI

We are pleased to bring you the Summit Advisor Spotlight. These interviews aim to learn how advisors have dramatically increased their production through leveraging tools and services provided by Cetera and Summit Financial Networks.

This Advisor Spotlight features Chad Keim, founder and principal of Keim Financial Group, out of Sturgis, MI. Chad recently sat down with Gordon Jahnig, Summit’s Director of Sales Support. We are grateful to Chad for taking time out of his busy day to share his insights. Let’s get started.

GJ: Chad, how long have you been a financial advisor?

CK: Overall in the business since 1994, so almost 28 years.

GJ: How long have you been with Summit Financial Networks?

CK: I joined when we set up Keim Financial Group. This past March was our 4th anniversary.

GJ: What is your value proposition or approach? How do you differentiate yourself from other advisors?

CK: For most of my career, I was at one place for almost 25 years. I believe what has differentiated me from other advisors has always been two main items. The first item, in which I am most proud, is service. I do not believe there is anyone better than my team when it comes to service. For us, it is all about the client. We follow through on everything and no matter what the question, we work through it. Our team takes their time with our clients and in many instances, they are assisting with inquiries which do not directly impact their investments, but it is still part of their well-being. We are always here for them, and our clients know, trust, and appreciate this about our team. I was taught at an early age to try and be a good listener, be consistent, and work hard, which I believe are all important keys to success in this business.

The second area is delegation. To run a good business and have good service, you must be able to delegate to a team that knows what they’re doing. Just as important, you have to know when to delegate and trust your team. Such as my wife running the operations, marketing, and working closely with our CPAs to our other two staff members talking to our clients daily. You must train and trust them and then give them responsibilities.

Therefore, our team is much more involved than most financial planning practices. We are a team, and our clients understand this, and appreciate it. I highly respect my team and immensely trust all of them. They are always learning, growing, and have the same level of commitment to taking care of the client. I am extremely proud of them and grateful.

GJ: We see you’ve increased your production a little over 50% from 2020 to 2021, and you’re on track for another great year despite the market gyrations. Congratulations. So how has partnering with Summit helped you grow your practice, enhance your value proposition, or stand out uniquely to existing and potential clients?

CK: The first thing that comes to mind, without a doubt, is we met when I was considering transitioning to fee-based. Between you and the Cetera Wealth Management Consultants, especially back then, both teams gave me the support I needed because I was inexperienced with implementing fee-based business successfully into my practice. I was just starting to transition into it when I was with my previous firm.

If Summit hadn’t given me that support, I don’t believe I would have successfully transitioned to a fee-based practice. Right now, at least 75% to 80% of my clients are under a fee-based arrangement or have at least one of their accounts as fee-based. As a result of this move, we have a very solid advisory practice, and your group was instrumental in this transition. I think it’s still a big deal for transitioning advisors, and both Summit and Cetera Advisor Networks should be proud of their commitment to this level of support.

GK: So, just having access to the array of advisory services or advisory platforms that Summit and Cetera Advisor Networks offer helped you.

CK: Yes, and more importantly, how to present fee-based services to a client.

GJ: So, to sum it up, as a result of some of the calls with the support teams, it ramped you up on your advisory business and that’s what helped you grow?

CK: Yes. You know, many advisors have been in the business for 25 to 30 years and had mostly a career of a commission-based practice. It’s a big deal to make that leap of faith to go fee-based and even more difficult when you’re making a leap of faith to go independent at the same time.

GJ: Well, I guess it kind of makes sense if you’re going to make a move to independence. You were thinking, I’ll make the move to fee-based while I’m transitioning to becoming an independent advisor, and kill two birds with one stone, right?

CK: Yes, and it took over two years. The only mistake I made is not using discretion. However, I spent almost all of last year getting clients converted over to discretionary fee-based accounts which makes more sense for a client in the way we manage the assets at our firm.

GJ: In the advisory space, when you have discretion, it’s easier to create models and assign those models to clients. It makes it easier to manage those models and manage the client relationship.

CK: Bingo, especially with today’s volatile markets. For example, without discretion if I have 100 clients with the same stock and need to make an allocation change, then I would need to call all 100 clients before trading in each of their accounts.

GJ: What is the vision for your practice over the next two to three years, and how do you plan on accomplishing that?

CK: One of the things I’m really proud of is, after a two-year search, we’ve just hired another employee. So, we’re investing a ton of time right now in the service aspect of our business. One of the big moves I’ve made, that probably a lot of planners haven’t done in the past, is hiring this new employee to be a direct assistant to my registered professional team member who’s been with me since she was 18 years old. Her responsibilities have grown as the practice has grown. She is fully registered and continuing to take more tests and increase her responsibilities.  Our new hire is hoping to do the same and I highly encourage it. I have also spent a lot of time on succession planning and protecting the practice, which many in our business still haven’t done.  I am always trying to look ahead and be prepared the best we can be, and I believe I owe it to my clients, staff, and family. It’s as simple as that.

The other part of the vision is to add another advisor. I’ve always been prepared for adding another advisor and when the right person comes along, I’ll be ready. It doesn’t matter if it’s now or several years down the road.

GJ: What is the most valuable service Summit offers you, or, putting it a different way, what differentiates Summit from other firms that you’ve worked for?

CK: One of the reasons why I hired Summit is your concierge-level service and the ability to call and get someone on the phone. It reminds me of the broker dealer I chose when I first started in the 90s. You can pick up the phone and call somebody, and they’re going to be on the other end of the phone to help you every time you call.

I’ve got your number and a half dozen other Summit associates in my cell phone. You don’t get that with the big firms. Most other broker dealers have become too large in my mind and their service levels have never been the same.

GJ:  So, instead of being assigned a ticket number or something like that or waiting, you know, two days to get a return phone call, you can get someone on the line.

CK:  Yes, the reaction from Summit’s staff has been great. We all have a short list of go-to people, even if it’s not in their wheelhouse. We both know that instead of spinning our wheels finding the right person, they’re happy to connect me to the right person to get a solution.

That is the most valuable thing. You guys are very good at that.

GJ: What would you tell an advisor who is considering joining Summit?

CK: What we just spoke about; it is the Concierge service unless they can find that somewhere else. I couldn’t, and to be honest, there’s a lot of industry consolidation and the largest broker-dealers are getting bigger. 

GJ: So, Summit offers you that concierge service and a high-level of touch while also leveraging the tools and services that a big firm like Cetera offers.

CK: Exactly so.

GJ: Getting the best of both worlds, right?

CK: Yes, exactly, and I love that.

GJ: Tell us about your family and any hobbies or interests. What do you enjoy doing in what little spare time you may have?

CK: I don’t know if I told you this or not before because it’s become so much more significant. We started a non-profit animal advocacy group a year before we opened Keim Financial, and my wife is the founder of that group.

What it has done for me personally is to have an outlet as a financial planner, and it’s a balancing act because it’s tough. This morning I got up at 5:00 and was over at the barn for three hours before my day started. My wife is on an emergency trip to save some other animals due to the heat wave we are experiencing. So, I’m covering for her at the family barn and the sanctuary side of our non-profit.  This is very humbling and a complete 180 from what I do as a financial planner.

Doing animal advocacy keeps us both very humbled and allows us to give back in some sort of way. Most days I go from that work to financial planning and back to helping rescued animals in the evening again. It’s two different ends of the spectrum, and I have worked hard on my whole life to be humbled, balanced, and giving.

Another thing that I’m very proud of is that both of our sons have become involved in giving back to organizations as well as our non-profit.

GJ: Chad, thank you for your time; we appreciate your candid feedback.

CK: My pleasure. Thank you and the team for supporting us.

Securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, member FINRA/SIPC, a broker/dealer and a Registered Investment Adviser. Summit Financial Networks is a region of Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Summit and  Cetera are affiliated and under separate ownership from any other named entity.