24 Oct Advisor Spotlight with Kim Enders, Sterling Heights, 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 edition of Advisor Spotlight features Kim Enders of Enders Wealth Management, located in Sterling Heights, MI. Kim recently sat down with Josh Gomez, Summit’s Sr. Relationship Manager, and Gordon Jahnig, Summit’s Director of Sales Support. We are grateful to Kim for taking time out of her busy day to share her insights. Let’s get started.
JG: Kim, everyone seems to have their unique path in this business. Where did you get your start, and how long have you been a Financial Advisor?
KE: I’m approaching my 27th year in the business. I’ve always been a forward-facing, eat-what-you-kill producer. I was never an assistant or a platform rep. I came straight from college into the industry with commission-based sales performing wealth management, and I’ve done it ever since.
JG: Why did you choose to be a Financial Planner/Advisor as a career?
KE: You want to know why? Because I needed a job. I was graduating from college, and I was a psychology major at Michigan State. All that was out there was financial sales. It was a stockbroker and/or life insurance. That was it. So, I thought, I don’t know what life insurance is, but I was told I was a great salesperson in college, so I thought, maybe I’ll do it.
GJ: How long have you been with Summit, and how do you end up joining the firm?
KE: I came to Summit because my Broker Dealer was sold to them in 2015. I was part of a package deal.
GJ: But you had a choice, right? You didn’t have to affiliate with Summit. So, what’s kept you here for so long?
KE: I chose to stay with Summit because I liked the smaller broker-dealer and the family feel. I liked knowing I could pick up the phone and call Marshall or Rob, knowing they knew me. Having a more intimate feeling with the home office is something I always wanted after coming from a wirehouse. So, I stayed during that transition and now I feel I have the best of both worlds. I have the significant resources of Cetera, yet we’ve maintained the small-town feeling of Summit.
JG: Kim, how do you differentiate yourself from other advisors? What do you offer your clients that maybe other advisors don’t?
KE: Ask any advisor this, and we all say the same thing; we have great service and products. I think that’s such a cliche answer. I don’t feel like that’s a true value proposition. So, when you dig deep into what makes me different or my true value proposition, I become the personal CFO for my clients. I help them with their personal retirement accounts, company 401K allocations, insurance & budgeting. I’m also helping their kids with their student loans. All of that is just the top of the funnel, and it’s where most advisors stop. I take that next deeper into the funnel. That means I am there holding the hand when my client the week he dies, promising to take care of his widow. I’m right there when my client’s husband commits suicide to help her make sense of it all and doesn’t know where to start. I am there when their business is booming or when the business is filing for bankruptcy. I feel like in the messiness of life, I completely step in and become an extension of that family. I want to protect that family from stepping on any landmines. But if they do, it’s OK, and I will be there right next to them to help clean it up.
JG: I think you tell your story well. Do you have a specific client niche?
KE: My niche is engineers. Being in Detroit, I have a lot of automotive engineering clients. I’ve also begun shifting my focus to ERISA plans, so I’m working now with more business owners. However, they still have that background in engineering or that methodical engineering-like mentality.
GJ: Thank you, that answer is a perfect segue into one of the areas we wanted to discuss. You and I have previously discussed your focus on ERISA business and becoming a big part of your practice going forward. Can you talk about what you’re doing in that space?
KE: The big joke I love to say is that I spent the first half of my career moving money out of 401K plans, and now I want to spend the second half of my career moving money into 401K plans. My specialty is complex retirement planning. I feel like I have practically done it all regarding retirement planning. One thing I noticed in assisting almost a thousand clients in my career is that many 401K plans have limited longevity resources. I have been in this business long enough that all my original clients have passed away except one, and she is 96. I have seen what the end of retirement looks like, and I want to give people a better chance to achieve the retirement they want in the end. To do that, I had to build a better mouse trap. So now I’m taking all my retirement knowledge, and building better plans. And better isn’t just expanded investment options or lower cost, sure, that’s what everybody wants, but they need a better chassis too. In this business, we all know planning for retirement starts when you’re 25-30 years old, you start dollar cost averaging 10%-12% of your pay and having a quality base plan is essential.
JG: Kim, I think Cetera has an excellent Retirement Plan Service group that some advisors aren’t leveraging. How much are you using their services, and can you describe this experience?
KE: My experience has been great. I work with Destini Lawhorn. As someone who builds and installs ERISA plans, or takes over existing 401K plans, having a dedicated Retirement Plan group is fantastic. In the past, there were times I would have to rely on wholesalers for ERISA information. I prefer having a knowledgeable, experienced internal group whose only goal is helping me do what’s best for the client and doesn’t have any skin in the product game. The support they have provided me as part of my 401k practice expansion has been invaluable.
Something else that’s cool is they have a turnkey program for the advisor who only has one or two ERISA plans, and doesn’t want that to be their primary focus. Instead, Cetera will do the heavy lifting, allowing the advisor to focus on the client relationship, and there is no additional cost to the advisor.
GJ: I heard you have been working with on of the Cetera Business coaches and that has helped in shifting some of your focus. How has that helped shape and enhance what you’re doing?
KE: I was just talking to Todd Cline, my Cetera business coach, before this call. He tells me I’m the most unique financial planner in the entire firm because I am fearless.
JG: How much did you have to pay him for that endorsement?
KE: (laughs) A LOT!
Seriously though, I am at a point in my career where I can step back and ask myself, what is it I want to do? Where do I want to focus? Cetera has a host of amazing, dedicated resources that are helping me achieve my practice goals, which is empowering. One example, I have been doing practice segmentation for seven years now. I recently took the challenging but essential step of re-homing some accounts. Yes, it was hard, but I needed to narrow my focus if I wanted to continue to have a quality work/life balance.
GJ: This might be a tough question. Over the course of your financial career, what would you say is your greatest accomplishment? And what was a decision you’ve made that you wish you could have a do over?
KE: Before answering that question, I need to give you some background. I was on a husband-and-wife team, and we ended the marriage while working together. Unfortunately, he kept the book, and I had to restart my practice. I had a few of my original clients from back at the beginning of my career. So, I got to take my OG’s with me. During, and for two years after the divorce, we continued to work together until I could sustain my own branch.
Four years later, I built a financial planning practice for a second time. I think my managed assetswent from around $7 million to $45 million.
That is my greatest achievement because it’s not just about the managed assets. It’s not just the scoreboard at the end of the day. I did it one client at a time. I didn’t buy a book. I built a book in four years with no staff for the first year. I did it alone and more importantly I did it my way.
If I had to do something over again, I wish I had had more formal training on how to be a business owner. You know, you get into a business partnership thinking it will last forever, especially when you’re married to your partner. Since my business happens to be a wealth management practice, I never really though about myself as a business owner…I was just a “financial planner”. I wish I had had more legal contracts with my partner. It would have been easier to build my practice again, but I didn’t. So, I took what I could, and I never looked back.
JG: In light of what you just said, what advice would you give to other women who are thinking about getting into this business?
KE: You know what I would say? My advice for other women would be they have both a female and a male mentor. In our business, and in personal finance as a whole, a lot of people try to pigeonhole women saying you are women planners, you should work with women clients. No, I vehemently disagree with that. I think a new woman transitioning into this business needs to have a woman mentor and a male mentor. There are valuable things you can learn from having different points of view.
I don’t want to offend anybody, but there’s a big misconception that women should only work with women, and I think that’s worse than saying women shouldn’t be in the business at all. I don’t think that we need to bring the women in and pat them on the head. This business isn’t just a brotherhood or a sisterhood; it’s a peoplehood, and we’re here to help them. Take in all points of view and then throw it around inside yourself and then decide how am I going to show up as the best, most complete financial advising professional.
JG: Let me shift, back to an earlier comment. You mentioned you have a curious mind and enjoy learning new things. What have you been learning about lately?
KE: Digital assets is something I loved learning about. It took me a year, but I learned as much I could. Part of that was doing coursework and that was tough. It really stretched me mentally. I had to learn blockchain and DeFi development and it’s a good thing because I work with engineers! The effort was worth it and now I sit on the Council for Financial Planning for Digital Assets.
JG: There is probably a whole interview we could do just about digital assets and cryptocurrency.
KE: I counsel on that a lot. I can’t give advice because it’s unregulated, but I so provide education to those that ask for it. Last year, I taught the ABCs of cryptocurrency in all my master classes. I thought if my people are going to learn about it, they are going to learn it from me. They’re not going to learn it from their buddy who learned about it from his kid.
JG: There are a lot of advisors that want to stay away from it all together and treat it like it’s radioactive, but it’s certainly a relevant issue, especially if you have younger clients.
KE: Don’t those advisors want to help educate their clients? At least then the client can make an educated choice for themselves. Relative to those financial planners, I think to turn a blind eye to the whole thing by saying it’s radioactive, is really doing a disservice to the client in the end.
GJ: OK, I think it’s time for some fun questions. This is one question we’ve enjoyed asking other advisors and the answers are always interesting. What’s your favorite movie and why?
KE: Oh my gosh, my favorite movie has to be Titanic, and I think it’s because of Rose.
She made up her own mind about what she was going to do. I identify with her a lot. She learned to make it in a man’s world at the end, right? Plus, I’m a girl and it’s a love story.
GJ: Yeah. Are you going to draw me like one of your French girls, Jack?
KE: Yeah, I just want that $350 million diamond.
JG: You mentioned being a mom, how many children do you have?
KE: I have one daughter, Lexa, who is an engineering major at the University of Michigan. I mentioned my client niche is engineers and now my daughter is going into engineering, so that’s fun.
JG: I know a lot of advisors like to find ways to have a positive impact in their local community. Can you tell us about some of the things you are involved in?
KE: I do a lot of community service. One thing I do is pro bono financial planning for women going through a divorce, especially single moms. It’s personal for me, I’ve been there. I was a single mom going through a divorce. As a financial planner, I knew how to take care of myself. It can be a rough time and I want to help because I know what they are going through. I also try to take one charity each year to help with financial planning. I feel like it’s a great way to give back to the community.
JG: I love that. What else should people know about you?
KE: One of the other things I do is motivational speaking. I speak to women in male-dominated fields. I attend a lot of engineering and financial planning events. I’m always on those women with grit panels, so I do a lot of public speaking to motivate women. I recently spoke internationally to a group of women engineers during the pandemic. I wanted to impress upon these women how to balance a demanding job with a family. I’ve been a single mom with a child that was in middle and high school. I rebuilt my life and my career out of sheer grit. The reason I am telling you this, is I want women to know that there are resources available from Cetera and that they can be successful as a financial advisor. If any women advisors are reading this and feel they have to leave the business because they are going through a major life change such as a divorce, and they feel they have to get out of the business… I’m here to say “No! You don’t!”. You can do it! I want women everywhere to know that.
GJ: OK, so that’s great. Perfect. What do you like to do in what little spare time you have? What do you do outside of the financial planning arena?
KE: I golf. I learned how to play golf this year. I also travel a lot, so now I golf when I travel. I’m a solo woman traveler, so that’s always interesting. Fun fact, I travel all over the world by myself.
JG: All right, so what’s your favorite place to travel to, and what interesting trip have you taken recently?
KE: I love the Jersey Shore, especially Cape May, NJ. I’m a Michigan girl, so people around here find it odd that I leave a place surrounded by water to visit a place surrounded by water. But I love it, bay sunsets really are the best.
I recently hiked Black Balsam Knob in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I was able to hike to a summit peak and have a 360-degree view of the mountain range. Yes, I hiked it by myself. Being at the top was incredible. I was able to sit there and just take stock of life and have this kind of peace within myself. Looking down and seeing the world, everything at my feet, and realizing how lucky I am to be able to help so many people. I remember being hit with such a deep sense of gratitude. It just took my breath away. Being up there also really puts everything in perspective about just how small we are in the very big scheme of life.
JG: I can’t think of a better ending than that. Kim, thank you for taking the time to do this, and we appreciate your thoughtful comments.
Kim Enders – Registered Representative offering Securities and advisory services 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, Cetera is affiliated and under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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38700 Van Dyke Ave, Ste 125
Sterling Heights, MI 48312
Crypto-Currencies, Digital Assets and other Block-Chain related technology (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs and others) are not securities, not regulated, and not approved products offered by Cetera Advisor Networks LLC. Crypto-currencies and other block-chain related non-securities products cannot be recommended, offered, or held by the firm.
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