Two whose names are readily recognizable are Suze Orman and Melody Hobson. They are the media darlings, quoted when financial questions arise. Orman started as a stock broker, while Hobson climbed the leadership ladder at Ariel Capital Management to become president. Neither of these industry leaders holds the Certified Financial Planner credential which is recognized as the financial planning standard.
Orman’s accomplishments include a clutch of books, kits, calculators, tools and a resource center. Among her dozen or so how-to financial books are “Young, Fabulous and Broke,” “You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It” and “The Laws of Money.” Her business flows over into television and media appearances.
Hobson, just 10 years after graduation from Princeton University, had climbed from intern to president in Ariel. She is a contributor to Good Morning America’s money segments and is a fierce advocate for African American financial literacy. In 2015, she was on the Time Magazine list of 100 most influential people in the world.
Third on the list is Karen McDonald of Morgan Stanley. Barrons ranked her No. 1 in its 2014 survey. She has $21.2 billion in assets under management and heads a team of 15 that serves corporate clients, many of them in the top Fortune lists. She specializes in employee benefit solutions and other employee issues such as educating workers to become better money managers.
Susan Kaplan, top financial advisor, according to the Barrons 2013 survey, is president of Kaplan Financial Services in Newton, Mass. Her $1.4 billion in managed assets includes many accounts in the $3.5 million range. Her average client has $10 million net worth. She has contributed to Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street and Mutual Fund publications as well as various financial journals and appears on Bloomberg News, CNBC, WGBH and other media outlets.
Gillian KYU of Morgan Stanley Securities in San Francisco, earned the No. 2 spot in Barron’s list in 2013 and No. 6 in 2014. Her $3.5 billion assets under management typically range in the $20 million neighborhood. Her clients average $50 million net worth. She is licensed as both a financial advisor and a broker. She was reared in Taiwan and is fluent in English, Mandarin and Taiwanese and serves many clients with Asian ties in both their Asian homelands and in the United States.
Elaine Meyers ranks fifth in the 2013 Barron’s survey’s overall financial advisor category and third among the women on the list. She manages $2.63 billion, with a typical account size of $30 million. She is managing director of Credit Suisse (USA) Private Banking North America in San Francisco. She has prior experience with other international investment firms as well and has been influential in the financial advisory field for several decades.
While women still lag males in financial advisement, these women and an increasing number of others are making their mark, managing billions of dollars and educating others in financial issues as well.