Delivering Concierge Services to Families

Becky Krieger of Accredited Investors Wealth Management

By Kevin Adler

While Covid-19 permanently changed how a lot of financial advisors engage with their clients, Becky Krieger, CFP^®, CPA, knew early in the pandemic that she would go back to business as usual as soon as possible. Rendered house-bound in March 2020 with her teenage children and husband, whose frequent-travel job was curtailed, Krieger was heading into the office periodically by October 2020. She has long since resumed her daily in-person routine.

“I think there is a different feeling when you put on your blazer, you get ready, and you feel like your professional and personal lives have separation between them,” says this mother of three, who is one of two managing partners and a shareholder at Accredited Investors Wealth Management.

“Because the pandemic shut down activities, there wasn’t much else to do, so it was easy to be glued to your laptop. I found it was better to spend time at the office as dedicated time and then at home have a regular family regimen. Mentally, it was healthier for me.”

Like other advisors during Covid’s peak, Krieger experienced unprecedented demands from clients, who were facing “a lot of complexity in that period.” Different than the financial crisis of 2008–09, she says Covid’s dangers led people to think more deeply about their health, not just their finances.

Clients spoke with her more frequently about philanthropy as well, with many looking for ways to quickly get money to those who were suffering the most.

Many clients of Accredited Investors own businesses, and Krieger says their business needs added to the challenges they faced from their own personal worries. Accredited helped pull together information so they could apply for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans to keep businesses afloat.

Comprehensive Services

Accredited and Krieger were well-suited to handle the pressure. The staff of nearly 60 people, based in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, serves more than 590 client families and managed more than $3.05 billion as of the start of 2023.

Accredited’s client families commonly have assets ranging from roughly $3 million to $50 million, with an average of about $6 to $7 million. Each client family is served by three wealth managers (the firm has 40) along with an investment manager from the firm’s investment committee.

“New clients that come to the firm are interested in finding a team that has handled a situation like theirs before. These families have accumulated wealth and desire to work with a team like ours to show the opportunities and possibilities that wealth provides,” Krieger says.

The full-service, concierge-style operation builds relationships with the clients’ other professionals, such as tax advisors and estate planners. Together, they develop and put in place the best strategy for each client. “If we are looking at your risk management program and see that you need a $5 million liability policy, we’re not going to make you implement it with your insurance agent,” Krieger says. “We [will] already have a relationship with your agent, we can make this recommendation, and email you to confirm it is completed. We have a great back office to make sure it’s done.”

In return, those other professionals become key centers of influence who refer other clients to Accredited. One-third or more of the firm’s new clients come in that way, Krieger says, with most of the rest coming as referrals from satisfied families.

Investment Diversification

Accredited uses a fundamental approach when establishing and managing diversified client portfolios. Working within predefined allocation ranges for each major asset class, Accredited’s investment committee will implement tilts in portfolio holdings based on prevailing valuations and apparent growth opportunities or risks. The firm uses a mix of active and passive funds and ETFs in managing clients’ assets.

Often, the firm uses holdings in a broad stock index for a given asset class but then uses specific funds to target market factors or individual sectors with above-average promise. Krieger says the approach enables the firm to use narrowly focused investments when appropriate to capitalize on opportunities in specific industries or geographic regions.

Accredited also incorporates private investments into portfolios “when they can provide investment characteristics that differ from those available in traditional public markets,” Krieger explains. In 2020 and 2021, when interest rates were at all-time lows, the firm investigated and engaged in various alternatives to traditional fixed income, including mezzanine debt, private credit, and industrial real estate. The firm is careful with these investments. For example, it is never the first investor in a project, and it takes a detailed look at a manager’s track record and process before committing clients’ money.

Speaking as 2022 neared its end, Krieger cited how changed economic conditions are affecting the firm’s investment outlook. With interest rates higher than a year earlier and the stock market down, she says the firm “think[s] markets have been nicely priced, and we are generally less intrigued by private investments … because the lack of liquidity is not worth it when [we] can get really nice valuations in traditional public markets.”

From Accounting to Wealth Management to Business Development

Krieger came to financial planning after working in public accounting at Arthur Andersen (now defunct) and Deloitte & Touche (now Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu). She advised high-net-worth families and executives at large Minneapolis corporations about exercising stock options, changing withholding and quarterly tax payments to reflect large bonuses, and similar matters. She enjoyed it, but she felt like a link in the chain was missing.

“Many times, when going through tax projections … a client would ask me how many options to exercise to become financially independent, or they would say that they knew they would face an estate tax issue someday, and they wanted to know when to start transferring assets to family members,” Krieger says. “With all the tools we had in a large public accounting firm, we couldn’t answer those questions. We weren’t set up to do that.”

A former colleague at Deloitte told her about a job opening at Accredited and how the firm’s mission was to answer those types of questions. “Going from a large organization to [being employee] number 13 [at Accredited] was a leap of faith,” she recalls about her hiring in 2005, “but hearing about the impact they had on people’s lives was so exciting.”

Krieger adds that she didn’t even realize when she was hired that she had landed into the most client-centric part of the financial planning profession by joining a Fee-Only firm. Over time, as she participated in NAPFA activities, the experience helped her explain fiduciary concepts to clients and introduced her to peers across the country. Among the ways she’s given back is by chairing the NAPFA Large Firm Forum, a program that brings executives at large firms together to discuss the unique challenges that they face.

As Accredited has prospered, Krieger’s role has evolved. She now serves clients as a senior wealth manager and also heads its external engagement programs. External engagement spans everything from the website and blogs, to client events, to meeting with centers of influence in the Minneapolis area, to supporting the company’s philanthropic and environmental activities. Her personal commitment extends to serving on several Minneapolis foundation boards.

“About seven years ago, one of our founders, Ross Levin, said to me, you love everything to do with business development, you love engaging with our clients and going to events. I think you should take over our firm’s external engagement initiative. I did, and I loved it,” Krieger says.

“We have an easy story to tell—it’s not about selling the firm, but about being in service to others.”

In 2023, those activities will get a boost following the celebration of the firm’s 35th anniversary. “We are making sure we share our story … [and] share our gratitude with families for being with us,” she says.

The firm’s messaging includes how it will transition from the founding generation to the next set of leaders, which includes Krieger and co-managing partner Brian Martin. “Our clients are happy to hear about having that continuity,” she says.

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The Family Cabin When working with high-net-worth families, issues often go well beyond investments, tax efficiency, and risk management—as important as those are to a family’s welfare. For clients of Accredited Investors Wealth Management, based in a Minneapolis suburb, lakefront cabins are often a topic of conversation, says Managing Partner Becky Krieger. Minnesotans have a deep love of idyllic summers spent by extended families at these retreats, and for senior family members transferring ownership of the cabin is often an important planning question. But it also turns out, Krieger says, that the oldest generation hasn’t asked younger adults if that’s how they want to spend their free time. Accredited wealth managers have recommended having “the cabin conversation” many times over its 35-year history, she says. At other times, the job of an Accredited advisor could be explaining to clients that even wealth has its limits. A Fortune 500 executive might want to keep that cabin, retire early, open a charitable fund, cover grandchildren’s college expenses, and buy new cars every two years. “Some of these families [come in with] big goals and ideas, and we ask them why is this a goal, and why now?” Krieger says. “We tell them you can have anything you want, but you can’t have everything you want. … What is most important to you, what aligns with your values?”

 

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Accredited Investors Wealth Management, at a Glance

Location: Edina, MN

Website: accredited.com

Year founded: 1987

Number of staff: 59

Number of clients: 592

Amount of money managed: $3.05 billion (January 2023)

Description of typical clients: Families with substantial wealth and multiple goals

Typical client needs: Long-term and intergenerational planning, investments, estate planning,

Favorite financial planning website: I don’t use a lot of financial planning apps, but I like listening to Smartless and The Daily.

Favorite nonfinancial planning website: Since our oldest daughter left us to begin college, I am a daily user of BeReal and enjoy seeing what she is doing “in the moment” on a daily basis.

Piece of advice to fellow NAPFA members: I am constantly reminded how lucky we are to be in a profession that can impact so many lives. Having a keen sense of financial planning strategies is a gift, and the more I have shared it with others, the better I have felt about myself, my career, and the impact I am making in my community. As a female in this profession, I know it can be a little lonely, given the current gender disparity. I was lucky to find a firm that supported my career goals, and I encourage other women to be generous with their time to mentor other women trying to find their way in this profession.