LINWOOD – Almost one year ago, a new business practice came to fruition on the mainland, one with a unique story.
With substantial time spent in the financial industry, managing directors and financial advisers Jeanne Eisele, Mary Gilbert and Leanne Gray decided to open their own practice.
On Oct. 7, Anchor Financial will celebrate its one-year anniversary.
In a male-dominated trade, the three partners officially established the all-women practice, Anchor Financial, in Linwood. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many larger organizations were limiting advisers and implementing strict regulations on how advisers could run their practice. The team felt restricted and Gilbert said they wanted more control in the way they operate their services.
“We chose to start our practice because we wanted to be more interactive – meet with clients regularly and privately,” Gilbert said. “We knew how we wanted our clients to be treated and we felt confined in how to meet their needs because of these larger organization limitations.”
While the idea of opening their own practice was fresh in their minds, a few other conditions had to be met to make this dream a reality. At the start the women realized they would need to partner with a reputable firm. The three partners researched every financial firm in South Jersey before officially deciding.
Eisele, Gilbert and Gray chose to partner with Raymond James Financial Advisors, a company that was already well-established. Anchor Financial now works as an independent entity through Raymond James with it acting on behalf of custodial purposes.
As stated on Anchor Financial’s webpage: “We chose to align with Raymond James because we believe this firm is also dedicated to your best interest. While Raymond James has the resources to match even the largest firms’ capabilities, our focus is on building close-knit individual relationships based on trust and integrity.”
Once Eisele, Gilbert and Gray finalized their partnership and business plan and became an independent channel, they did something else unique. The three have only hired female associates and will continue to do so.
Anchor Financial is home to the largest all-female team on the East Coast and the only financial company of its kind in the local area.
“Our industry is dominated by males. However, through my experience, I do believe women typically tend to express a more nurturing, care-taking and detailed-orientated persona. Many of our clients have benefited from this regarding their financials,” Gilbert said.
At the beginning the women claimed they did feel pressure advertising as a female-only team but this has since changed.
“Now there is more of a push for women to work in the financial field and we’re seeing more and more women who want to become advisers,” Gilbert said. “We’ve been pushing for women advisers since the start, so it’s like old news to us.”
In addition to the team being all-female, Anchor Financial also stands out from other offices for its multi-generational dynamic and employees. After learning how certain clientele prefer working with professionals in certain age groups, the women wanted their office to reflect that. This is also beneficial to family planning. The multi-generational staff helps families feel more comfortable being onboarded as a whole, allowing the client to refer to a specific team member.
Unlike most larger practices, Anchor Financial also takes an interest in servicing younger clients. Most larger organizations require potential clients to meet a specific financial value prior to onboarding them. Many younger individuals may not yet be able to obtain this amount. The Anchor Financial team, however, believes working with the younger generation is a great opportunity to build a long-term relationship and start preparing and nurturing clients for the long run.
“A younger client may not have substantial assets right now, but they still deserve the same help, guidance and opportunity to reach their goals. We provide that for them,” Gilbert said.
While helping younger clients is a priority, Gilbert shares there are challenges. The younger generations are battling with products costing more and financials differing from other generations.
“The changes are hard to keep up with, but we want to be able to help them navigate these challenges so that they can still be successful. We see so many younger clients worried they won’t reach the same financial success their parents and grandparents had,” Gilbert said. “We want to help them overcome that, show them ways in which they can achieve that same success but also help them recognize the balance between financial success and enjoying life.”
One of the major reasons Anchor Financial was created was to offer a more intimate client-to-adviser approach, creating stronger relationships. The three partners don’t like to do business over the phone and prefer to run in-person meetings often.
“We have long-lasting relationships with clients. Of course, every financial adviser wants to say that, but we truly do,” Gilbert said. “We have had clients since the ’80s who fortunately have followed us to this practice and mostly, all our new clients come from existing clients’ referrals.”
The three partners are all born and raised in the local area and like to give back and support different local schools, organizations and charities. Gilbert states that this is where their clients, children and families live, so they want to provide good services that can help their community.
“I am looking forward to growing the practice more,” Gilbert said. “We are so excited to support and interact more in the community and look to shepherd new female advisors coming into the field since they aren’t afforded the same mentorships in bigger companies that we can offer here.”
Anchor Financial is at 1801 New Road, Unit 1, Linwood. Call (609) 454-8930.
By DELANEY CRAWFORD/For the Sentinel