Season 3, Episode 14:
Jayne Hladio
Jayne Hladio: Building a Wealth Management Powerhouse
In this episode of Jack Rants with Modern Bankers, Jack Hubbard welcomes the expert in the field, Jayne Hladio, President of Wealth Management at Associated Bank. Jayne shares her unique career trajectory, from a young girl inspired by community banking in rural Iowa to leading a massive wealth division.
The conversation delves into the distinct challenges faced by community banks versus large organizations when developing wealth services. Jayne highlights the innovative strategy she employed at Midland States Bank to launch a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm and the "Goldilocks situation" at Associated Bank, which functions as the nation's 40th largest trust company by assets under administration.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, as I mentioned at the, at the outset, I've talked to a lot of bankers over the past 3 years of doing this program, and one of the things they've asked is, could you have somebody on from wealth management?
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Jack Hubbard: I didn't want to have just somebody on, I wanted to have the expert in wealth management, and that's why I asked Jane Vladio to join us today. Jane, so great to see you, and thanks so much for being with us.
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Jhladi01: Jack, thank you, it's a pleasure and an honor, and thank you for your kind comments.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, you've done it all in wealth management, but the story doesn't start there. I'm curious.
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Jhladi01: Yeah.
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Jack Hubbard: on this.
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Jhladi01: Jack, we need to start over. Did I just call you John?
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Jack Hubbard: Oh, I don't care.
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Jack Hubbard: We could start over.
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akozek01: Sorry. Question for you.
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Jhladi01: I told you, John!
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akozek01: Since I recorded.
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Jack Hubbard: My mother used to call me that when she was mad at me.
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Jhladi01: And it's because John was standing right there.
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akozek01: Since you are recording this, is it better if I remove myself so I'm not a proper tile? Okay, then I'm going to drop so you two can be focused. Jane, Jack, if you need anything, I'll still be on Teams and available, but…
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Jhladi01: That's fine, that's fine. Okay, good.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah, and Andrea, just so that you know, you'll get the whole video link, and you can do what… you use it however you want.
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akozek01: I appreciate that greatly. Thank you both. Talk to you soon.
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Jack Hubbard: Thank you, Andrea, for all your help.
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Jhladi01: Thanks, Andrea.
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akozek01: Bye.
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Jhladi01: Alright.
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Jack Hubbard: Alright, here we go.
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Jack Hubbard: 3, 2, 1. Well, one of the things that has been fascinating to me over the past 3 years of doing this program, I've had the chance to interview a ton of bankers, lots of bank CEOs, but one of the things bankers always have said to me is, when are you going to have somebody on from wealth management?
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Jack Hubbard: And, it's a great question, because wealth management is so important, and I just didn't want to have somebody on. I wanted to have THE person on, the expert in wealth management, and so I asked Jane Vladio to join us. Jane, great to see you today.
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Jhladi01: Thank you, Jack, and thank you for your kind comments. It's an honor to be here.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, let's start off with your career. President of Wealth Management at Associated Bank, a fine bank, and as I mentioned in the
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Jack Hubbard: in the outset, we've done work with Associated Bank for a long, long time, and it's a great organization and an expanding organization.
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Jack Hubbard: But you didn't start out in wealth management, in banking. You started out on the retail side. Take us back a little bit to your career. I'm curious, first of all, Jane, how did you end up getting into banking? Was it something that you've always wanted to do, or are you an accidental banker like many of us?
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Jhladi01: I know our industry is filled with accidental bankers, Jack, but I am not one of those. My father, early on, living in small town, rural Iowa, demonstrated to me by bringing me into the bank.
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Jhladi01: what happens when you have a wonderful community of leaders that care deeply about enabling commerce. And my father would bring me in to Carroll County State Bank each Saturday.
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Jhladi01: And I got to witness, in the 70s, all of these leaders coming together and really reinvesting and helping the farming community engage once again after just a very terrible drought situation.
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Jhladi01: in regaining their livelihood again. And they did that by working together with different lending capabilities and investments made back into the community. My father was a part of that. So I saw that go down. That was far more interesting than maybe the stale Tootsie Rolls that I used to get at the teller window.
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Jhladi01: And then from there, it just progressed into a natural interest in university studies. Jack at University of Northern Iowa, I majored in finance with a banking.
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Jhladi01: emphasis, and I had the opportunity, actually, to start, not too many people know this, in trust and private wealth, through People's Bank there in Waterloo.
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Jhladi01: And I began my internship looking at risk models of investments and analyzing beta performances and thinking through nonprofit donor advice fund strategies very early on. So that was my start in banking.
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Jhladi01: Quickly, though, I had a great opportunity to transition into a leadership development rotation at First American Bank right out of college, moved from Iowa to Chicago. That was a great experience.
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Jhladi01: And quite honestly, from there, it has been assuming Richard Davis's advice, whom you know is such an icon in our industry, and Richard once said, Jane.
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Jhladi01: go very broad and across the wealth spectrum and the banking spectrum with your experience. You'll be glad you did, because later on, you'll be able to pick your sweet spot.
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Jhladi01: of emphasis and move forward. So, for me, it's been consumer, commercial, project management, technology platforms, strategy, and then I found myself back to the wealth business about 10 years ago now.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, and you've had some interesting experiences at U.S. Bank, and at a community bank, and now at Associated. I'm curious how you see…
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Jack Hubbard: Because a lot of our audience is community banking. Community bankers struggle with trying to do anything but being plain vanilla, because a lot of times they just don't have the resources. Talk about your experience in community banking and wealth management versus at large organizations.
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Jhladi01: It's a great question. You know, certainly, as I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Midland States Bank and their wealth management group, it was a different challenge. What you saw there were wonderful community bankers deepening relationships across mostly the trust expertise area, and there wasn't a lot of emphasis in the advisory business, so it was more of a traditional trust business. So you do find that a lot in the smaller community
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Jhladi01: banks.
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Jhladi01: So what we were able to do there is map out a strategy to launch an RIA.
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Jhladi01: And we did so in record time. We looked at modernization of the tech stack from beginning to end there, and really positioned them more as a light RIA. We joked with the team that, what if we thought of ourselves as an RIA with a bank attached?
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Jhladi01: And actually, that's worked out quite well for that organization. So that was a different challenge in a community bank.
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Jhladi01: However, what I can say about Associated's wealth opportunity is it is surprising, I think, to most, that we are the 10th largest trust company in terms of assets under administration within the U.S.
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Jhladi01: And we have everything we need under our umbrella. So we're in a perfect Goldilocks situation here, Jack, where we have all of the national capabilities we need in wealth. We've got private banking.
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Jhladi01: We've got a registered investment advisory firm, Kellogg, that functions in our institutional space. We have a wonderful trust company. We have an advisory group, financial advisors that we have in-house. We have not outsourced that. We feel very comfortable with that business model for the mass affluent.
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Jhladi01: So, we serve everything right now in Massive Fluent, from about $250,000 in investable assets, all the way up to $150 billion net worth spectrum, and do a great job. So.
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Jhladi01: The space that we're in now, it allows us to leverage all the capabilities that a wonderful bank associated has
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Jhladi01: and position well right in the middle of that, and there really isn't anything that we can't do. We have a full suite of capabilities, but we have that sweet spot where it's this local care
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Jhladi01: Deep expertise, longevity of colleagues, so there's good tenure in the relationship management, and then you overlay the growth plan for associates on top of it.
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Jhladi01: I couldn't be happier about where we're at right now. But you're right, they're two completely different challenges.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, and it's so interesting because your footprint has continued to grow. You're very big in Minnesota, certainly your home state of Wisconsin, Illinois, where you do a great job. Your footprint continues to expand, Jane.
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Jack Hubbard: Recently, you made an announcement that you purchased a bank in Nebraska, so now you've really got that Midwest footprint really, really surrounded. Talk about your footprint and the new bank that is going to join your family.
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Jhladi01: Well, we're very excited. It's with great intention, Jack. As you know, we're not a serial acquirer. We focus on organic growth, one client at a time, and do really well at gaining share in markets that, in the Midwest, it's not like you have double-digit market growth. We've been able to do that through organic growth, deepening relationships, and taking share. And so, we just announced a wonderful merger with
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Jhladi01: American National Bank.
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Jhladi01: And this is a wonderful opportunity for us, headquartered out of Omaha, Nebraska.
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Jhladi01: There's emphasis around the Lincoln area. We now fill in our Twin Cities complement in Minneapolis. There's a little bit of a presence on the Iowa border, which me coming from Iowa, some people might not be overly excited about that. I think it's a great opportunity because
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Jhladi01: We are a regional community bank.
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Jhladi01: And we love being authentic and giving back in these communities, and they respond extremely well to us. So, American National for us, will mean another 33 locations.
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Jhladi01: It's $4.7 billion in deposits, $3.8 in loans, but I think more importantly than anything, it just continues to expand our continuous presence in the Midwest as a growth bank.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, you are… that's exciting. That's very, very exciting, and it's exciting for American National, because you're giving them the resources that they truly need to continue to grow as well.
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Jack Hubbard: I'm curious, Jane. I've known you for more than a decade, and one of the things I do know about you is you're not an in-office person, you're out in the community. I'm curious
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Jack Hubbard: how you spend your time, and how you get out to all the various areas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and now Nebraska.
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Jack Hubbard: How do you get to see all the people? Because wealth management is a hands-on business.
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Jhladi01: It really is. Well, I think first, Jack, that starts with, we have an exceptional leadership team. I was so pleasantly surprised, in a way, coming into the associated family two years ago, at the depth of executive leadership that we have in wealth.
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Jhladi01: And I can count on them to make sure that they know which meetings and which opportunities I really need to be present in. It's been with great intention when I first started. It was kind of funny, I announced that I was going to be conducting a one-on-one or one-on-tour-three with every single colleague in wealth.
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Jhladi01: And the colleague said, oh, there's no way she's gonna do that.
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Jhladi01: It's the smartest thing I ever did. We took all of those plans, and we did a SWOT analysis of the business according to their purview, and we then asked.
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Jhladi01: colleagues across Associates, because if you don't start with really understanding how the colleagues think about the business and how they feel about our opportunity, then you might be off track from the get-go.
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Jhladi01: So, that was how it started, and since then, we've instituted wonderful town halls that are very regular. We have gone and done market tours on a regular basis and listening sessions. I have to say, you know, Andy Harmoning is a phenomenal CEO,
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Jhladi01: And our entire leadership team has so much fun together that you don't think about stretching yourself thin going to these different markets. We're on a cadence, and we really look forward to it. And when we get there, it's all about really listening to the colleagues and understanding what it is they need next for support, and it's about meeting important clients.
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Jhladi01: And that's the part that you know, Jack. I love serving in the community.
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Jhladi01: There is nothing like sitting and understanding the story of the clients and the business owners that we have. That brings me so much joy, and that goes way back to my father, you know, 50 years in Karina as the National Salesperson of the Year.
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Jhladi01: He just extended himself with joy and encouragement, and I think I just naturally enjoy doing that, and so, to me, I can't wait to get out in the markets. I'd much rather do that than stand in the office.
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Jack Hubbard: Agreed. And you talk about your story. I want to play a short video that shows your team and talks about a number of different facets of wealth management that I want to get into with you.
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Jhladi01: Wonderful.
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Jack Hubbard: Great video, just a fabulous video. And one of the things you talk about is financial freedom that we're going to get involved with here. You also talk about personalized service, and you talk about your team.
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Jack Hubbard: Talk about your team and wealth management. Get specific with us, Jane, because a lot of people get an idea of wealth management as one vertical thing, but you have a variety of different ways that you serve clients. Talk about wealth management at Associated Bank.
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Jhladi01: We really do. It starts first and foremost, and you've heard this, Jack, I mean, the value of having a planning-first mindset is critical in the business.
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Jhladi01: And it used to be such that you… it would take 3 hours to do a plan, or 4 hours, right? And only certain people did that. But we're on an exciting journey here, where we certainly do have… it all starts with our Center of Excellence, with our financial planners, wealth planners that we have on board, and they do a great job.
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Jhladi01: We will be looking at investments there to bring some agenic AI capabilities to that that
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Jhladi01: really enhance the planning experience, and I think it's important to start with that. Beyond that, though, we have specialists that enter the picture, and what we're designed to provide is a welfare experience that can take individuals, families.
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Jhladi01: business owners, institutional investors, from beginning to end in that journey. To us, it doesn't matter. You don't have to have $10 million and above to start with us, and I think that's important to know because
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Jhladi01: At this point, 60% of the revenue to be gained in the industry, when you think with your shareholder hat, is in that $300,000 to $5 million.
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Jhladi01: And we play perfectly in that sweet spot. We play way above that, but we play perfectly in that sweet spot, so…
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Jhladi01: private banking. We have full private banking, dedicated private banking capabilities, but we also have
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Jhladi01: many mass affluent bankers, upwards of 30, within the consumer bank that we partner with really closely, and they naturally tie into our financial advisor business, who serve our clients at that kind of beginning investor, up to a million dollars in investable balances. Now, some of the best-kept secrets
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Jhladi01: We have a national Healthcare Savings Business, HSA.
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Jhladi01: And that business partners wonderfully with our retirement planning solutions. So, we have leaders that can help companies think through their 401K strategies, their retirement planning strategies.
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Jhladi01: That is, again, another area you probably would not have expected an organization to provide, and we do all of that.
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Jhladi01: I would say, too, unique differentiating factor. We don't just press a button and say, hey, Jack, you know, here's your investment portfolio.
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Jhladi01: Led by my Pat Coulter, we have a team of 40 analysts and research experts that are excellent at their craft from an investment management standpoint. So, when we start with planning, we really do tailor to what the client needs and wants.
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Jhladi01: And we do a great job of monitoring and thinking through those investment strategies, and we perform well, when it's… when we look relative to benchmarks in the industry. So, that along with
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Jhladi01: Trust and estate planning expertise, donor advice fund strategies, insurance strategies, tax planning strategies, We cover it all.
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Jack Hubbard: You do.
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Jack Hubbard: And I don't know if the audience caught it, but I did. You said a word, wealth care. You know, when… I think a lot of people get the idea, okay, I want to go to a wealth management area because I want to enhance my wealth.
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Jack Hubbard: But, Jane, there's much more to it than that. Talk about wealth care, that's a fascinating word.
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Jhladi01: there is so much more to it than we think, Jack, and so…
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Jhladi01: where I wanted to start taking all of my experience across the industry, it really goes back to our mindset.
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Jhladi01: Always does.
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Jhladi01: And so I've been a student over the years of not only, futurism, the kind of the VUCA world of things, to be agile and think through change management, but I've also been a student of consumer behavior.
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Jhladi01: And we began our journey here by taking a step back and saying, where is this industry really going? What is going to make the most difference for people? It's about
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Jhladi01: How they define wealth wellness overall.
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Jhladi01: It goes far beyond numbers. It goes far beyond investment decisions, far beyond bank accounts.
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Jhladi01: It really gets back to how significant my life experiences can become, because I have a healthy relationship with my money, I think through my strategies with guidance.
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Jhladi01: I think about wellness in terms of the wisdom and the ability to have some freedom to do the things that I really want to do that matter to me, to bring great meaning to my life.
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Jhladi01: We then took that information and did a study with an organization and a provider that I knew from history.
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Jhladi01: They provide consumer behavior insights for some of the best companies in the world. Not banking, by the way. I went a traditional route on this one.
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Jhladi01: And what we learned was, You can use an analogy like Mayo Clinic.
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Jhladi01: It is a different standard of care. And when an executive goes to Mayo Clinic, they might stay there for a couple of days, but by the time they come out, it is one stop, and it is everything holistically they need, pre-plan, as they're there, post-plan, on maximizing their wellness.
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Jhladi01: So, that's why I use the terminology, and we have branded this as part of our Associated Bank new mission statement and vision statement for wealth management.
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Jhladi01: It is about a different standard of care, and we provide wealth care in a way that I truly believe is unique. Everyone says that, but we do have all the capabilities, but we've got this
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Jhladi01: this kindness and integrity and care that these colleagues exude as they work with their clients. I have witnessed it firsthand, Jack.
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Jhladi01: And it's tangible. In the culture, it's tangible, like cheesesteak.
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Jhladi01: So, I believe that welfare for us can bring the emotional well-being
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Jhladi01: to the situation. And, you know, when you think about it, you can have a lot of wealth, and you are not always in check emotionally. We're about the head, heart, and the wisdom.
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Jhladi01: being in alignment, and I think that is incredibly important as a wealth advisor.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah, it really is, but there are a lot of folks who don't have the kind of wealth that we're talking about, even 250.
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Jhladi01: Damn.
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Jack Hubbard: But for me, not for me, but if I'm a human being, and I'm in your footprint, and I have $100,000 to invest.
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Jack Hubbard: I feel I'm wealthy to me.
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Jack Hubbard: It's below where you like to be in terms of a foundation for your division.
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Jack Hubbard: But if I do have $100,000, and I want to talk to somebody at Associated, how do I get the kind of service that you're talking about so that I can take that $100,000 and grow it on an ongoing basis?
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Jhladi01: I love that question, Jack, because we just unveiled what I think is one of the best progression offerings in the industry to help people do that.
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Jhladi01: And it's called Choice.
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Jhladi01: We've taken our benefits and offering menu, and we've looked at the more that we can help you save, beginning at very entry levels, and invest.
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Jhladi01: you will get more and more and more value from us as you move along. So I'm going to encourage all of our viewers out there, check out our choice offering right now. So if you have $100,000 to invest, first, we're going to say.
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Jhladi01: Let's do the obvious, let's make sure that you have a safe or rainy day fund, and from a safekeeping standpoint. And we'll work with you digitally, if you would like to. We'll work with you in the branch franchise, and you would most likely meet with one of our bankers and our affluent Banking team.
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Jhladi01: And an advisor can meet with you to say, let's talk through beginning investing with you. Now, a lot of people, they might jump to certain providers, fintechs, I get it, but we have the ability for people to go ahead and do individual investing here. And you can do it on your own, or you can do it assisted.
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Jhladi01: We prefer that you do continue to track along with maybe semi-annual advice sessions with the beginning advisor. Most of the time in that, in that wealth spectrum, we're talking about paying down debt, we're talking about smart decisions. We're not talking about giving up your Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. Like, that… that isn't really the approach.
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Jhladi01: It's…
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Jhladi01: Taking advantage of being aware of how many subscriptions you have, thinking through that roundup in savings, making sure when you have a little bit of extra money to invest that we start a CD ladder, and then we go into the investment.
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Jhladi01: game. And it's smart debt, right? It's really being smart with your debt, smart with credit card usage, just all the way around. So that's how we consult from the beginning. We use a cure process.
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Jhladi01: To help people get positioned. And then, once you advance into that $250,000 to $500,000 or a million, that is great space for us to really help think through their risk profile, and then let's start to think through making sure you do this on a diversified basis. And I'd last say.
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Jhladi01: We consult quite a bit on making sure you take every opportunity to maximize your employer benefit programs, or if you're not employed, you're self-employed, we have to talk through those… those set plans. We've got to talk through how to make sure that you
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Jhladi01: save and leverage every tax advantage opportunity that there is out there, and we spent a lot of time doing that with that group. So, again, that poses one of the highest revenue opportunities in the industry, I think because
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Jhladi01: Lots of times, wealth providers say, well, you know, we just want to swim at 10 million and above. I'm not criticizing that. That's a strategy that you can take.
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Jhladi01: Our approach is we feel a sense of responsibility to provide that welfare to everyone.
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Jhladi01: And we look at it as though it's a spectrum, and it's our responsibility to help you progress to that through real conversation, and through being unintimidating in the approach, and emotionally supporting you through the… where you're struggling, perhaps, or don't have clarity.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah. I saw a program recently, or a little news snippet, it might have been on one of the news networks, that in order to retire comfortably at age 67, 70, whatever it is, you need $2 million in retirement.
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Jack Hubbard: Unfortunately, by the time you're 70, that ship has sort of sailed in terms of building your wealth. You want to retain it at that point.
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Jack Hubbard: But if I'm a young person, you have a daughter, you have a daughter sophomore at college, my daughter and her husband are in their early 40s. What are you seeing, Jane, in terms of young people, I'm talking about people in their 20s, maybe even in high school, certainly in college, just a little after college.
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Jack Hubbard: What are you seeing? What are some trends you're seeing with young people?
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Jack Hubbard: Trying to start to build their wealth.
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Jhladi01: Yeah, you know, they're jumping in, Jack. What we're seeing is the next few gyms, they are not afraid to…
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Jhladi01: Which is great. You know, you think about our generation, you didn't really think about that too much until you had a certain dollar amount amassed, and then you started thinking through it more, maybe in your mid-20s, 30s, you took advantage of your employer plans, and that was about it.
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Jhladi01: Today is so different because of the digital access to investing and companies making it far easier for them to do. So what I'm seeing right now, though, that's interesting is
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Jhladi01: Despite what most people think, Next-gen investors want advice.
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Jhladi01: they want to be able to partner with someone. In fact, their stress level they've reported comes down dramatically when they have an advisor to work with. So I think that's first and foremost, is they have a proclivity to partner
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Jhladi01: That's actually stronger than some of the older generations who had their cousin, or had their person, or they preferred to do it themselves. Well, we know investing has become more complicated. It's easier, but it's become more complicated, with far more vehicles out there for you to enjoy, like active tax-advantaged ETFs, these things. So, they want advice early and often.
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Jhladi01: Number one. Two, they will use digital tools.
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Jhladi01: Three, they actually like the idea of having a budget and a plan.
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Jhladi01: And they are not afraid to leverage out whatever is provided to them in their employer plans. 529 plans are a big part of the discussion with that group, and smart investing for college, thinking through wise ways to reduce that debt, refinance that student debt.
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Jhladi01: And I would say smart homeownership early on.
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Jhladi01: It's shocking, Jack, still, how many people don't realize there are so many programs out there
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Jhladi01: Where you can get into a home earlier than you think. And again, it's all about getting that advice from a really good mortgage lender on what kind of programs we have available. So I'd say, you know, this group of new, emerging investors, they understand the power of compounding, they understand the power of time.
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Jhladi01: And you and I know that's what it's all about. You can… you can wind up with two, three million dollars if you're maxing out your 401k plan all the way through your career easily, but it's early and often. And I think they… they're smart, they're getting it, and it's really fun to work with these young investors.
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Jack Hubbard: I can imagine it really is.
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Jack Hubbard: Here's another thing that's interesting, and I think you have fun with, and that's internally with your advisors, with your associates and colleagues.
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Jack Hubbard: One of the things I've heard you talk about is elevating our brain as advisors. That's internal, Jane. What does that mean? What are you doing to help your advisors elevate their brain so they can help these clients that we're talking about?
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Jhladi01: Well, as you know, we have to be students constantly. I'm really proud of our team. This is a team that loves to be on the cutting edge of what is happening, and they bring that value to the clients in the interaction. I would say that we need to think
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Jhladi01: Start… starting with the brain, Think as though you really are the client.
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Jhladi01: I've seen so many advisors come into the session, and they may or may not acknowledge the children. They may or may not include the children. They may or may not include the significant others, partners. They do most of the talking.
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Jhladi01: Jack, this is all about listening, the brain power of listening to the emotional state and reactions that the client's having as they're speaking and talking. So, to me, it's… yes, it's the technical knowledge, I get that.
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Jhladi01: It's being in touch with all our digital tools, it's making sure that we think through AI-enhanced
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Jhladi01: Personalization is critical, to have your brain prepared for that, to have the team prepared for that before they go in.
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Jhladi01: to think through security nowadays as a strategy, that is a different place to take the wealth brain, right? Like, most wealth advisors, probably not thinking that much about digital security and money movement transfers. They're saying, hey, I know this client.
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Jhladi01: so do the impersonators out there. So…
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Jhladi01: you would have to stretch our brain in current thinking on what wealth management means today, and I would say that it is very much about
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Jhladi01: Fraud protection, cyber resilience, teaching. We just… we are constantly educating on when you…
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Jhladi01: take your donor-advised fund and you're thinking about money going out the door, are you sending a check that could be manipulated? Are we helping you move that money in a smart way? These are all the ways that we have to stretch our own brain and kind of forget sometimes. You can have… you can have banker mentality about certain things, and it can be very helpful.
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Jhladi01: that can also create blind spots. And so, I really do… I think it's that creative brain that my mother sang with Lawrence Welk, and I'm a musician for 25 years touring in Chicago, that comes out. I want us to think in full color when it comes to the client, and most of the time.
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Jhladi01: Alpha value is not added through return on investment. Alpha value is added with the way we think through each and every decision set ahead.
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Jhladi01: Advocate and champion the client in ways they expect, but, more importantly, unexpect, that delight them.
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Jhladi01: And be willing to challenge the process sometimes as needed, but do it respectfully. That takes a lot of emotional brain power, doesn't it? So, it's more than just
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Jhladi01: Talking about what you do is more than delivering a plan. It really is, in my mind, orchestration about elevating that standard of care across the board.
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Jhladi01: Across the board, for them, for their family, I'll go back to our choice offering. When we're launching this Choice Offering Benefits Program, it benefits every single person in their
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Jhladi01: In their immediate family.
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Jhladi01: Imagine that. So, these days of sending your child to college and worrying about fees and all of this stuff, if you're a wealth client here.
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Jhladi01: You don't deal with any of that. It is fee-free banking, and it has a ton of benefits, but your family enjoys that. These are the kinds of obstacles in our industry that have existed forever, and we're breaking every one of them down, because we are thinking differently, and we're assuming the brain of the client, and what the client wants, emotionally secure.
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Jhladi01: In terms of investments, returns.
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Jhladi01: All of it. And that's what's required of good welfare providers these days. It just is. So we're… we're enjoying it. We feel far more purposed.
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Jhladi01: And the journey for me, the significance has done nothing but increase the more that we think this way with our clients.
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Jhladi01: It's fine.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah, and if I'll… I can go on a little rant here, and maybe this is just because I'm old school. There are so many internet providers where young people can go put their money somewhere, or buy some stock here.
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Jack Hubbard: I, I, I think, and we saw this in the pandemic, when, you know, Wintrust
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Jack Hubbard: when people needed banking for a PPP loan, it was all of a sudden, oh my god, I can't go to an internet provider, I gotta go to a banker.
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Jack Hubbard: It's the same thing in wealth management. Sure, you can get financial services for free or for very cheap, but you get what you pay for. A good friend of mine.
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Jack Hubbard: From Iowa.
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Jack Hubbard: Many years ago, Steve Barger is his name, he said the two most important things in your life, and you touched on this, are your health and your wealth, not necessarily in that order, and then he proceeded to say, and when was the last time you went to a discount doctor?
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Jack Hubbard: You do not. Your health and your wealth are very important, and if you're willing to pay for the best, you will get the best. But I gotta, I gotta ask.
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Jack Hubbard: You said something very quickly that I didn't know that I… I got a… I got a pick at.
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Jack Hubbard: You said, I think you said, your mother saying…
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Jack Hubbard: for Lawrence Welk for many years. Now, a lot of young people go, who? But I sure remember Lawrence Welk on Sunday nights. Talk about your mom and how that all came about.
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Jhladi01: Oh, thank you, that's so lovely that you are spending a little bit of time on that. My mother and father, I just can't say enough about them. They were just the most wonderful parents ever. And my mother raised 9 children, really technically 11.
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Jhladi01: Couple of miscarriages along the way. But…
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Jhladi01: she, she raised the family, but whenever she had a chance, when Lawrence Welt came to the Midwest in the Star Ballroom.
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Jhladi01: she would always go and perform with him. And she had a beautiful voice, and she could sing, and Jack, she was more beautiful inside and out than Elizabeth Taylor. My mother was just so talented. That musicianship in our family took off. My brother Rich won the,
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Jhladi01: Hall of Fame Award for Music. I started a music business in high school, sang at a lot of weddings, wound up, when I moved to Chicago, being in a traveling band called the Gold Coast Orchestra with Dan Hayes, and oh my goodness, it was such a great experience. Violin, piano, voice, guitar.
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Jhladi01: I really enjoyed it. And so…
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Jhladi01: I do believe that, to your point about wealth.
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Jhladi01: There is an orchestration to things.
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Jhladi01: And I think about music, going to a hospital, a welfare provider.
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Jhladi01: And we all hear about music therapy.
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Jhladi01: Wealth advice is no different. It is therapy, it is therapeutic, and it is about music to people's ears when you see the relief come. And, you know, we had a situation the other day. My mother would have loved this, it was a lady… would have been about my mother's age now, had my mom not passed away.
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Jhladi01: She was making these decisions on her portfolio and trying to think through how much money she had. Her husband had passed away.
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Jhladi01: She had more than enough money, Jack, to make things work from a healthcare and welfare perspective for herself.
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Jhladi01: what we really learned was she was toiling with this decision about a car. Like, she didn't want to have to go and buy the car by herself. She didn't like the car buying experience.
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Jhladi01: So an example of welfare is…
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Jhladi01: The team picked up on that.
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Jhladi01: I was in the meeting.
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Jhladi01: And they called one of our best clients up in Green Bay and said.
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Jhladi01: could you please deliver a few cars for this client to look at, so we can all consult in the lot, and put her at ease, and help let her know, yes, of course you have the financial resources to do this. That isn't what she was fearful of, and it's not what was tripping her up. It was causing her stress, was the idea of making a decision without her husband there.
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Jhladi01: I was so proud of our team, because they caught that, and they did something about it, and they consulted her, and then we all celebrated in the lot. We went out for dinner, and the daughter said, Jane, I will never leave your welfare team, because what just happened there made my mom joyful again.
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Jhladi01: She's relieved she has a reliable car. She didn't have to go through the experience by herself, and she said, you stepped in.
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Jhladi01: where my father couldn't anymore. Jack! Like, that's why, when you say, you need a good advisor.
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Jhladi01: I… I would just say, open yourself up and be vulnerable as a client. There's not too much we haven't heard. It's kind of like going to the dentist sometimes, right? It's like, oh boy, you know, I haven't been to the dentist in a while, what are they gonna think? I gotta tell you, it's never about that. We find so much meaning
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Jhladi01: When we have a moment to resonate like that in someone's life, that is the ultimate return on investment, period.
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Jhladi01: And we need more people in the wealth industry that continue to advance that, because what it does is it helps clients want to engage with you more. If clients aren't engaging with you, you better ask yourself, why?
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Jack Hubbard: Right?
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Jack Hubbard: Wow, that's… that is a great story, and very, very exciting, and not surprising that your team would do that under your leadership. Here's another thing that's going on. You talk about individuals and peace of mind, and all of that.
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Jack Hubbard: After the pandemic, and I read an article recently in the New York Times that basically said that 10,000 people a day
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Jack Hubbard: are turning 65.
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Jhladi01: Hmm.
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Jack Hubbard: So, individuals are turning 65, but a lot of those people, Own a business.
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Jack Hubbard: And part of that is, okay, what happens next to my business? Succession planning. It's a big topic around banking. What are you seeing in succession planning, Jane, and how does Associated help people that are thinking about succession planning?
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Jhladi01: Well, first, we are wonderfully skilled in this space because we have such a great commercial banking team.
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Jhladi01: that, they do everything. There's really not anything we can't do in that space. So, with our business banking and commercial team, which really is a significant part of our client base, are business owners, right?
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Jhladi01: We would say, Jack, it's all about before, during, and after. And what I most of the time see is people will engage their accountant, they'll engage, you know, their family, and
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Jhladi01: They don't always think about the role that a good wealth advisor can play.
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Jhladi01: And so, what I would say is, we help you think through how you maximize keeping more of the net proceeds.
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Jhladi01: When we're involved early, we think through the long-term value of the business, not just in a wonderful accounting sense, but the accountant does their job.
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Jhladi01: But we think through some of the structures of the way you're thinking through the investments, the posture of the portfolio, how you're thinking about tax impact, how you… what status you leave your colleagues in.
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Jhladi01: Your wealth management This is a huge liquidity play, right?
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Jhladi01: So, before the sale, we really like to make sure that we help through the targeted valuation, through the areas that I talked about. We think about coordinating with M&A and legal and everyone else, but it's very important that we are at the table, so I'm going to encourage everyone, like, think about that. Clarity of your goals.
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Jhladi01: Thinking through different models and scenarios, and price and terms and taxes.
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Jhladi01: Are very important. Now, during the transaction, there is a wonderful opportunity to be monitoring how your concentration winds up.
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Jhladi01: You know, once you get in the thick of it, and you have your liquidity event, you're thinking through this, how much of it should be liquid, illiquid, how fast at closing?
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Jhladi01: How should we think about the after-tax value, the risk implications? What about the spending and the timing of the structures involved? And then just thinking about how your personal balance sheet moves on from here.
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Jhladi01: In your family.
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Jhladi01: How do you protect that? Do you set up some donor-advised funds? Do you set up different charitable contribution approaches? Irrevocable trusts?
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Jhladi01: There's so much to it, and we see so much left on the table to act in those situations. Now, at the end, we think about redesigning things a bit. A lot has just happened. We need to think through long-term planning and legacy planning now.
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Jhladi01: And let us do that heavy lifting so that you can now go and enjoy. And I think that that is always an area where
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Jhladi01: sometimes there's conflict, that can reside in a residual. We can help resolve the conflicts. We can help resolve some of those family differences, differences between parties, with just some of that, again, psychological support, that mindset and that brainpower that we can bring to the table as an independent party.
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Jhladi01: Those are all the ways and more that we add value, and so we really appreciate it when we get to be a part of moving that legacy on. You think about it, that's what America's built on.
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Jhladi01: It's built on us trusting one another and helping you through those situations so that more businesses continue to thrive and benefit many, many lives. And we're going to need that more than ever with the advent of AI, thinking through all of this, you know, together.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, you brought up the two letters that I just wanted to talk about. You mentioned earlier that your bankers are getting more involved in AI.
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Jack Hubbard: We hear lots of things in banking, on the banking side about AI, but haven't heard anything about what's going on in wealth. What changes are you seeing, Jane, as a result of AI coming into play here?
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Jhladi01: there's quite a few. You think about trust documents and how complicated they are, Jack, and you know, some people love reading all of that and reviewing that.
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Jhladi01: But now with AI, we can… we can boil that down pretty quickly. We don't rely only on AI, and we're in the early stages here at Associated, making sure that all of our heightened risk standards are in check on any of this before we start anything. But certainly, that interpretation of things, it can be quite helpful.
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Jhladi01: The other area that we're seeing good momentum in is just tribal learning and transfer of insights, hyper insights about our clients, things that they prefer, don't prefer.
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Jhladi01: a more AI-generated way of thinking about their future that might give you important reminders to be talking with them about when they hit certain milestones in their life.
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Jhladi01: Those are more examples. One of my favorites right now is AI and AGenica AI in Financial Planning.
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Jhladi01: And we are working right now on a partnership where we will be able to take planning down to minutes, instead of hours and hours and hours of collecting all this data manually and trying to find the insights there within.
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Jhladi01: Through the power of AI, we will be able to continue to elevate consistency in the experience, because
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Jhladi01: certain agenic AI-empowered recommendations will come up. It doesn't violate anyone's privacy, it's just part of the planning tool. And in that planning tool, that Agenic AI gets really smart about, have you thought about this for the client? Have you thought about that for the client? So.
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Jhladi01: The number of timely recommendations that you can generate and the relevance of them does nothing but grow. It's still surrounded by human advice and discernment, for certain.
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Jhladi01: But, you know, some planners are more experienced than others, and this starts to help level the playing field so that clients get that great planning experience every time.
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Jhladi01: And we're challenged to stay on top of our game, because there's certain things that AI will find, and we're like, boy, I don't know if I would have thought of that. So, it really is such a great example in wealth management, on a great place to start that is not
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Jhladi01: imposing on your privacy, it's elevating our game, but it's not replacing us. But it's very important to be able to do a lot more financial planning instead of just a very small percentage of your client base having a plan. That's not okay.
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Jhladi01: And so I see AI as democratizing the planning process and making deeper planning more available to more people.
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Jhladi01: I love that. So, we'll be an early adopter of that.
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Jack Hubbard: That's… that's really exciting. Well, you've been a… you've been better than a great guest, and I… and I kind of figured this would happen. But I gotta ask you, because you and I think so much alike when it comes to one word, and that's referrals.
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Jack Hubbard: You've got a huge, huge footprint. And I always say to bankers.
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Jack Hubbard: Look at your customers. They trust you. This is your franchise. And too often what happens, and I don't know if you see this in wealth, but I see it in commercial banking, prospecting is a lot of fun. Let's get some new clients in, and that's all fine.
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Jack Hubbard: But if you did a good job with the people who trust you in your franchise, those customers, you'd never have to make another prospecting call.
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Jack Hubbard: I'm curious about what you've done in wealth management, in your big footprint, to foster that idea around getting referrals from all your bankers, your bank partners, and providing referrals to them as well. I gotta believe you're doing something innovative here.
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Jhladi01: Well, it was the first step coming out of what I defined before with all the colleague meetings and setting up our strategic plan approach, the very first pillar to act.
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Jhladi01: is not just one associated. We hear a lot about many banks throwing around this term of, operate as one bank, operate as one bank.
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Jhladi01: But what people may not realize is that takes an enormous amount of behavior change. It takes an enormous amount of mindset, agility.
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Jhladi01: And I call it behavior architecture. Like, all of a sudden, everything becomes incredibly intentional.
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Jhladi01: And the headline here, I think, is…
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Jhladi01: I don't know we've made it when we don't talk about referrals anymore, like, referrals go away.
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Jhladi01: Like, my happiest day is when we don't need to talk about referrals. Why? And we're seeing this right now.
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Jhladi01: I took a one wealth approach and a one associated approach, and we really took that together. We took that together as a team, and I made some observations early on, and we were certainly going to market in a meaningful way.
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Jhladi01: But I saw even more opportunity for even the wealth teams to lock in interconnectedness and thought leadership before, during, and after, much like I talked about in business succession.
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Jhladi01: So, duality, to your point, is our biggest opportunity right now. Finding more clients that we have today that we can do banking and investing for, that choice offering that I shared with you is going to advance that tremendously for us. But duality is
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Jhladi01: The amount of opportunity that we can help people with by getting to that dual stage is exponential.
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Jhladi01: It's 3X in terms of deposit capture, it's 3 to 8X in terms of asset capture.
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Jhladi01: Simple as that.
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Jhladi01: So this one associated approach now, and this one bank approach, we are seeing
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Jhladi01: quadrupling, really, of interactions going on back and forth, getting very intentional about who we're engaging together as one team, and being very focused on that, and all the value that we bring to bear, and selling all the way across that menu. And what we're seeing is it's not selling at all. It's actually bringing all these solutions to the table.
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Jhladi01: And instead of waiting 2 years to maybe get a referral from the commercial team and have a wealth interaction.
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Jhladi01: We're joining in and celebrating all the way through the commercial process at the closing, and the resistance barriers are coming down, and the clients are saying, what do we need to do to interact with you?
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Jhladi01: in the wealth group, and we explain, and you're off to the races from there. So, it is dramatically different. This group was doing very good referral activity back and forth.
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Jhladi01: But Jack, we have to take the slack out of that. Why? Not just to have more sales results. It's a responsibility we have to holistically advise wealth care to the client again. So we take the slack out of this, oh, I'll let you talk to my client after this mortgage closing happens.
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Jhladi01: No. To structure the mortgage right, we should be doing planning at inception, and delivering the plan is a wonderful gift, unexpectedly, perhaps, at closing.
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Jhladi01: And it just continues from there. So, that's how I view referrals. I want to make them irrelevant, because we are intentional and interconnected. At inception.
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Jhladi01: We take the slack out of that, and we provide a full menu of solutions that we then say, we're not going to do everything at once, but here's the milestone plan we're going to lay out and help you on the next two years forward. They can see it, and they realize that there's a lot that they should be thinking about. No one else has done that for them.
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Jhladi01: And so, I just… that whole concept, Jack.
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Jhladi01: If we just do that better, we can quadruple our revenue impact here for sure, but I think, again, more importantly, feel so good about the alpha value we are truly adding when we interact. That is our greatest life's mission and our joy on why we do what we do.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah, and it goes back to your story about the woman who you helped with her car. Those are the kind of priceless moments that go far beyond shareholder value. It's customer value, and that's really important.
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Jack Hubbard: You are… one more question. You've been so kind with your time. You… you are out and about, not only in your own footprint, but you know hundreds of wealth management professionals around the country.
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Jack Hubbard: I'm curious, Jane, if you could be Nostradamus for a second, look into that crystal ball. What do you see going forward? What's one insight going forward that you could leave about wealth management and where it's headed?
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Jhladi01: Well, I'd go back to… I would say, line of view by 2030.
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Jhladi01: You want to have a fully integrated offering beginning to end, ideally.
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Jhladi01: you see this happening, Jack, in RIAs trying to attach banking services, or insurance companies establishing alliances with banks, or you see trust companies thinking through, is this stodgy and old, and should I be recreating myself in a different fashion?
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Jhladi01: So everyone is thinking through relevancy.
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Jhladi01: By 2030, you have to, I believe, be a fully integrated player that has the full offering, because otherwise I don't know how you keep up with what will be available through AI and other
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Jhladi01: other means. I think it is really important to have a deep planning approach to the business, again, for the reasons I've mentioned before, and I think that's going to do nothing but grow as planning gets democratized.
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Jhladi01: And I would say, last but not least, I still believe that
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Jhladi01: the clients want the power of choice. They want to be empowered with that. I do think that clients will realize the value, though, over time. Remember this adage, don't put all your eggs in one basket?
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Jhladi01: Nowadays, with account aggregation and Plaid and all these other tools that are out there to aggregate, we can actually provide advice on held away assets somewhere else.
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Jhladi01: And I think it's very important to take the time, and we'll see this by 2030, much more aggregation of people's 13, 14, 15 providers coming together, either aligning into one or two organizations, or we'll be smart enough as providers to be looking at that broader umbrella of investments through account aggregation heldaways.
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Jhladi01: And we will actually find ways to advise on that held away as part of a holistic picture, not just the part that we can see.
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Jhladi01: So… I do believe integrated, holistic, digitally enabled AI
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Jhladi01: But at the end of the day, it comes back to giving the client the power of choice, and I think alpha is going to grow exponentially. Anybody's going to be able to generate a decent return. That's table stakes. But this idea of alpha value and emotional support by 2030,
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Jhladi01: That's what we're betting on, and I know we're right.
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Jack Hubbard: For sure.
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Jack Hubbard: So I'm a… I'm a potential customer, wealth customer, or I'm a banker who wants to tap into your expertise. How do people get a hold of you, Jane?
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Jhladi01: Oh, thank you, Jack. I am so happy to engage, you know, especially with newcomers to the industry. I love mentoring, as you know. But, jane.latio at associatedbank.com is fine. You can also find me on LinkedIn under Jane Latio. I do respond to my messages. I'm…
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Jhladi01: I'm such a believer that, you know, the narrative about banking hasn't always been kind.
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Jhladi01: Maybe sometimes deservedly so.
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Jhladi01: But we've become smarter and wiser, and I believe that we truly do enable communities, colleagues, clients, to succeed. And we are enablers of commerce, and this is going to continue to be vitally important no matter what happens with technology trends.
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Jhladi01: So, let's engage, let's add value with one another, be generous with our time, and be kind. And kind means
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Jhladi01: not just being nice, but feeding forward truths with one another, and helping each other navigate those truths as… as friends. I love that idea.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, it took me almost 3 years to finally get someone on that is involved in wealth management, but I couldn't think of a better person, a world-class person, to interview today. Jane Heladio, thank you so much
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Jack Hubbard: for your time and for your expertise and your friendship over the years. I really appreciate it.
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Jhladi01: And Jack, thank you. You have been an icon in our industry. I remember meeting you very early on in my career as
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Jhladi01: an attendee to several of your training sessions, and you left such a watermark on not just how I think about the business.
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Jhladi01: That integrity, the kindness that I spoke about, genuine interest in advancing the wellness of others, that is you, my friend. And so, thank you for helping all of us in this industry be better.
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Jack Hubbard: Wow. Thank you so much for saying that. That was so kind of you, I appreciate it.
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Jhladi01: It's true!
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Jack Hubbard: I've tried, and you've done it too. It's exciting. You know, the people that you meet here in this industry, the people are just fabulous, and you've done so well. You must be very proud of
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Jack Hubbard: what you've accomplished, I think your parents would be so happy and proud, and you must be proud of your daughter. What is she… you know, this is… now the recording is done, and we'll edit all this out, but where is she headed, Jane, with her career?
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Jhladi01: She, politely informed her father and I that she has no interest in banking.
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Jhladi01: Which is kind of funny. Never know, she might come back to that. But, Jack, she is a negotiator, she is a musician, she is,
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Jhladi01: She's studying law at Northeastern. She is studying terrorism and political science. She is a French minor and a music minor as well, so…
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Jhladi01: She has been studying in France, she's likely targeting Tokyo next. She's doing a co-op, because Northeastern in Boston is known for setting their students up on these 3-4 month co-op experiences internationally. By the time you get out, there's a 99.9% placement rate in exactly what you want to do.
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Jhladi01: And so, right now, she is going to be entering her latter part of her sophomore year.
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Jhladi01: And she'll be, functioning at the, get this, at the DA Homicide Office in Boston, studying terrorism.
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Jhladi01: And thinking through the legal aspects of navigating certain cases. So, very different than what Matt and I have ever done, but I can tell, like, it is totally her strength. Posture…
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Jhladi01: Strengths that coming through.
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Jhladi01: Yeah.
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Jack Hubbard: You know, Jane, and I played the organ since I was 10, and I was in high school bands and rock bands and things like that. I think when you have… no matter what you do, if you have music in your life, that's important. It's everything. Music is everything. We need to have music in our lives.
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Jack Hubbard: And good for you for mentoring her. I'm sure that her grandmother influenced her a lot, and you influenced her a lot as well.
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Jhladi01: Well, yeah, you know, I didn't know any different. When Lindsay was born, we started with music very early at the conservatory, so she's been conservatory trained many of those years. And then, of course, as always is the case, Jack, like, at some point, they just decide they want a break from it all.
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Jhladi01: And she did, but now she's found her way into theater and…
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Jhladi01: Piano and guitar and voice and acting, and she is actually leading the pit
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Jhladi01: For the next musical coming up, and she is, helping chair student government, she's in a sorority, she's just got so much going on, but she is thriving, she loves it, and I think she, kind of like myself, but even more so than me, she lives
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Jhladi01: 10 million miles a minute because of surviving that open heart surgery multiple times when she was born. She had less than 5% chance to survive, so she does not waste a minute. And if anything, I have to get her to rest and restore.
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Jack Hubbard: Yeah.
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Jhladi01: But she's so driven, I don't have to encourage that.
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Jack Hubbard: Well, Jane, thank you so much for all this time that you've provided. Thanks to Andrea, too, for her great help. This program will be on on the 17th of December, as I mentioned.
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Jhladi01: Good.
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Jack Hubbard: get you, as soon as I get the link from the Zoom, and it will be completely unedited, all of this will be on the back, but I want you to have the raw footage so that you can do whatever you want, and then obviously when it'll be on, we'll… the Friday before
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Jack Hubbard: or the week before you're on, my colleague sends you some links, and you can do whatever marketing you want, and we'll certainly do that as well. But Jane, thank you so much.
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Jhladi01: Sounds so good. Stay in touch, Jack.
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Jack Hubbard: I will.
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Jhladi01: of time with you. It was a pleasure. It's always more of a conversation than anything with you, and it just is so much fun to think about the industry with you.
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Jack Hubbard: Take care. All the best for a great holiday. Thanks so much.
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Jhladi01: Bye.
