Power to the People

“The “magic” of our partnership is our people,” states Claire. In addition to welcoming recent college graduates and individual professionals with experience from other financial and legal organizations, at Cerity Partners mergers are embraced as a way to come together with talented professionals who share a commitment to clients, colleagues, and community. “We are not an aggregator, consolidator, or roll-up. Words matter to us. We never acquire anyone or any firm; we merge to become a better firm,” says Claire.

The entrepreneurial mindset and collegial culture at Cerity Partners create a rewarding professional experience for all its colleagues. Committed to the professional and economic success of its colleagues, Cerity Partners has established “multiple organic growth channels to develop new client relationships for colleagues to serve, including our niche workplace solutions offering for business and their leaders, and Cerity Partners University for dedicated training and development for all colleagues of the firm, particularly our next gen,” Claire shares. 

Within Cerity Partner, all colleagues are unified by a clear and shared purpose, vision, and strategy, and also have the opportunity to become a partner and equity owner in the firm via a defined path to partner process. With no public company pressures of meeting quarterly earnings, colleagues are free to always act in the best interest of clients and to provide a broad array of wealth management services. 

“As a firm, we are committed to meritocracy, diversity, and inclusion, including ensuring that we are sourcing a diverse group of candidates for open positions,” Claire shares. Not to mention, colleagues are awarded equity and compensated based on their performance and contribution to the firm’s success, making this company an attractive proposition for wealth management professionals.

Claire’s “American Dream”

Born to a loving family and raised in a small village in the southwest of Ireland, Claire’s path to being a leader at one of the fastest growing wealth management firms in the country was not a planned one. “My grandparents owned a local bed & breakfast and village store so at a very young age I was exposed to tourists from many different countries, which fostered my curiosity about the world and passion for travel,” she shares.

Having obtained her bachelor’s degree at Trinity College in Wales, Claire became an elementary school teacher in inner city Dublin. After her first year of teaching, Claire and a group of friends came to the US for the first time. Instantly falling in love with the country she and her friend came back two years later with hopes to travel throughout the US and the world.

In 2003, a year into the journey, Claire got married and moved to New York. Here, she accepted a role at a boutique wealth management firm initially as a means to support the family while her husband pursued a master’s degree. Never making it back to teaching, Claire soon became enamored with the business world. She obtained her MBA and had the unique opportunity to work both on the business and in the business, serving as COO and a client-facing advisor for affluent individuals and their families.  

“I experienced first-hand the positive impact a wealth advisor can have on the lives of clients by giving them peace of mind when a plan is put in place to protect their loved ones and their legacy, time to devote to their families, profession, and hobbies instead of hours reviewing paperwork and coordinating with multiple advisors, and an objective sounding board to help them to navigate the complexity of lifestyle, legacy and charitable planning,” Claire shares.

In 2009, Claire was introduced to Kurt Miscinski, Founder, President & CEO of Cerity Partners. “I vividly remember how impressed I was with the vision of the firm that he was building,” she shares. Soon thereafter, their firms formed a strategic partnership and collaborated for many years. In 2018, Claire relocated to Chicago to officially join Cerity Partners’ leadership team and has never looked back since. “Cerity Partners is my forever home! I am on the ride of a lifetime with an ever-growing group of incredible partners and colleagues who share a passion for this amazing firm that we are building together”.