Advisor Spotlight:
Breanna Sykes, Copper Leaf Financial

Comprehensive financial planning means going beyond a client’s investment accounts to ensure they hold the right amount of cash and earn a competitive interest rate. But sending constant inquiries about bank balances is a headache for clients and advisors. In conversation with Ben Cruikshank, President of Flourish, Breanna Sykes, a CFP® and Senior Wealth Advisor at Copper Leaf Financial, explains how she uses Flourish to proactively help clients better manage their cash while generating more referrals at the same time.

Below is an edited transcript of an interview between Breanna Sykes and Ben Cruikshank, President of Flourish. 

Ben Cruikshank: Breanna, thank you so much for joining. Let’s kick off with your personal journey into the wealth management industry. How did you get to the role you have today?
Breanna Sykes: I've been in the industry for a little over ten years. I was originally in education, specifically business education. Business owners and how they operate have always been intriguing to me. I happened into financial planning, and it worked out really well. I get to take my educational background and teach people how to retire and use their money.

As an educator, it’s important to find the right resources for your people. I'm always looking for the latest and greatest technologies to help me do my job better. So thank you to Flourish for that.

Ben: I'd love to hear a little bit about Copper Leaf Financial. How would you describe the firm and your clients?
Breanna: We have about five people working together and have about two hundred million in assets under management. We work with individuals and businesses, and each of those clients has unique needs.

We are in Vermont, so it is also a little more local-minded. Many of our clients like to have that local person to talk to, which helps us thrive and build those relationships deeply. The more we can do for clients, the better the relationships.

Ben: What is your typical client profile?
Breanna:  Our average client is about sixty-two, though we are starting to bring in a younger client base. While we tend to work with retirees or pre-retirees, we’ve started pushing towards working with their family members as well – the children of our clients or other family members – to bring that planning full circle.

As far as business owners go, we have a lot of new up-and-coming dentists and other different business owners. We do individual planning for the owner, but we also can manage corporate funds and 401(k)s for the business itself and make sure that that's handled as well.

 
Ben: Before Flourish Cash,^† what challenges did you hope to solve with a cash management solution?
Breanna: When you're planning focused, you're typically using software like MoneyGuide, where you want your client to integrate their accounts so you have updated balances and current information. But it can be a struggle. If you have clients who aren't technologically savvy and can't log in or don't want to keep using those links with multi-factor authentication and things like that, you might have stagnant data.

We were looking for a way to have live data that we could control versus constantly having to ask the clients for updated bank balances. 

Then, on the other end, we provide white glove service. During tax time, we want to give a client’s CPA all their tax forms. With Flourish, we can do that for them too, versus having to tell the CPA, like, “Oh, we can provide Fidelity and Schwab and this and that, but you have to ask the client for their bank 1099s.” 

Those two pieces were key in making our clients' lives easier, making our lives easier, and having a better relationship.

Ben: How do you use Flourish Cash with your clients?
Breanna: We bring it up with almost everybody. If you have cash sitting in a bank account and it's earning nothing, we want it to be earning something, so why not put it in Flourish? 

We also present it as an added white glove service where, if you are using a different bank where we aren't linked, we don't have visibility of that money.^∆ With Flourish, we have that visibility so that we can say, “Oh, your account has gone over our predetermined cash reserve amount. We want to pull funds over to your portfolio for the long term and invest.”

Clients love that because now they don't have to get that email from us to say, “What are your balances?” or they don't have to wait until the next meeting to discuss their cash reserves. Now, we're being more proactive with our clients and can show them that we’re looking at all the pieces of their puzzle.

Ben: Advisors are sometimes gun-shy about being so proactive around cash. They worry, “Does this feel like I'm being salesy?” It sounds like you've had a very different experience.
Breanna: It's a key piece of our planning with a new client. We will not manage a person’s assets until they’ve walked through a financial plan so that we know the ins and outs. Part of that is understanding the amount of cash reserves they need to have on hand. 

We have that conversation right off the bat, and it's not a sales conversation by any means. It's just helping them understand the correct amount of cash for their situation and what's comfortable for them.

It’s a great service. They value it. I think just having that open conversation and letting them have a say is all you need to do.

Ben: What sort of feedback have you received from clients about Flourish Cash in general?
Breanna: It’s overwhelmingly positive. They love how easy it is to use. They love that it can be linked up so that we can see the links easily and confirm them on both ends. They love that we can contact support instead of them having to call the 1-800 number of their bank or go into a bank. 

 
Ben: I'd like to switch gears and dive a little bit deeper into business owners. How do you use Flourish Cash with that segment in particular?
Breanna: I think they appreciate it the most. They tend to have a lot more cash on hand because they have a lot of business needs that involve having cash readily available. They have that reserve sitting there at a higher level.

It's hard to find business accounts paying what individual accounts pay. For Flourish to be paying the same level as individual accounts at that higher rate is great, and our clients really appreciate that.
The visibility is also wonderful for business owners because they are impossible to get a hold of. They're busy. Anybody who works with business owners understands that, if they don't have an assistant, you're basically not talking to them regularly. 

It is really beneficial to have something that gives you visibility so that you can again be proactive instead of waiting for them to think about it and reach out to you.

Ben: How does Copper Leaf primarily source new clients, and how does Flourish Cash fit into that equation?
Breanna: We're heavily referrals based. The best way to get new clients is because you have people speaking for you saying, “I love this person. They do great work.”

Flourish has been cool because people can just put their email in, and then we get a notification that says, “So and so sent a referral to you.” We can follow up with that client from there.

Otherwise, you're relying on clients having conversations, and you might never hear about a referral. It's been pretty neat to see how Flourish has stepped into that position and allowed us to work with referrals directly from clients.

Ben: How many of your clients have you invited to Flourish?
Breanna: I think about fifty percent is over at Flourish. We talk about it with every single client. The only ones who really say no to it are those who don't carry heavy cash balances at their bank. Maybe they are well into retirement, and we're just funding their income. Other people might prefer using Fidelity or another brokerage as their bank because that’s a seamless transaction for them, something like that. 
Otherwise, it really is a no-brainer to talk about it to everyone, not just those with high cash balances. Anyone who wants to earn more than one percent on their cash. Most people say, “Yeah, let's do that.”

Thank you Breanna!

Copper Leaf Financial and Flourish are separate and unaffiliated firms. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. This material is provided for informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the individual being interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Firm. The inclusion of any external party in this interview does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Firm. The information provided is not intended as financial, investment, or legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. This feedback may not be representative of the experience of other customers, and is not a guarantee of future performance or success.