Michaela Scott, MSFS, CLU®, ChFC®, RICP® will be stepping into the role of Alumni Council President at The American College of Financial Services in 2024, taking the baton from Scott Winslow, MSFS, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP®, CCFC. Thanks to Winslow’s stellar leadership over the past few years, the Alumni Council is stronger than ever and has established a foundation for continued year-over-year success. The College believes there is no one better than Scott to continue that momentum.

New Members to the Council

Joining the new president, along with the rest of the Council, will be four new members.

Heather Welsh, CFP®, AEP®, MSFS is a vice president and the wealth planning department leader at Sequoia Financial Group, where she determines strategic direction for the planning solutions created for clients and oversees the management and career development of Sequoia’s wealth planning team. Throughout her career, Heather has been motivated by a single ambition: to make wealth planning accessible, relevant, and personalized to each individual and family she serves. She is also passionate about supporting the next generation of professionals, serving as a mentor, women’s initiative advocate, and past “Ask the Expert '' panelist through the CFP Board and by volunteering in the classroom through Junior Achievement. Her impact has been broadly recognized, as she has received the Greater Akron Chamber’s 30 for the Future award, and she was the recipient of the Women Working in Wealth Award by The American College in 2022.

Jason Austell MSFS, CFP®, CHFC®, CLU®, CASL®, RICP®, AEP®, CAP®, CHSNC®, CPFA® has over 20 years of experience working with clients in both the personal and professional markets. In addition to his many designations, Jason completed his master’s in financial services (MSFS) at The American College of Financial Services in 2017. He is a past President of NAIFA NC and has been a member since he began his career. He is also a member of the Charlotte Estate Planning Council, Society for Financial Service Professionals, and the Rotary Club of Gastonia.

Julie A. Pinkerton, CLU®, ChFC®, LUTCF® is the CEO of Evozen, LLC.  Evozen’s ClientFirstTM is the only national, fully diverse digital community that creates the right environment for people to connect in order to provide top service to their clients and solve their most challenging problems. Additionally, the ClientFirstTM community unites independent Rainmakers in insurance, investments, law, and tax as Centers of Influence. Julie is also a contributing writer for U.S. News & World Report, focusing on financial topics and she is in the midst of authoring a book, "BLINK, Because Life Isn't Neat & Clean."

Sahar Pouyanrad, EMBA, CTFA, AEP®, CEP, ChSNC® is an executive director and the West Regional Trust Team leader for the Trusts and Estates Team for J.P. Morgan Private Bank. In this capacity, she is responsible for oversight and administration of trust accounts and related services for the firm’s fiduciary clients across the West Region, with a primary focus on ultra-high-net-worth families. As the Head of New Business, Sahar is also responsible for partnering with legal, compliance, and risk to drive new business, manage risk by overseeing review of potential trust and estate opportunities, and work with senior leadership to set new business parameters relating to trusts and estates. Sahar is also an award-winning member of the Toastmasters International and a frequent speaker on trust and estate subject matters.

Mission

The Alumni Council’s mission at The College is to:

•    Identify new ways to promote student success and engagement.

•    Create a supportive community that values inclusivity and collaboration.

•    Help students meet their full potential and exceed their own expectations.

The College is sincerely grateful for the contributions of all its returning members and is excited to welcome its new ones to the ongoing effort to embody the Council’s mission in support of helping The College embody its own.
 

In business, trust is critical. In financial services, it’s even more so because of the fiduciary nature of many relationships in the industry. In their presentation, Drs. Pattit and Pattit explored the factors that contribute to the formation of trust for seven types of financial services providers.

Their analysis relied on 1,697 consumer responses to a self-administered online questionnaire. The questionnaire permitted assessment of trust levels held by: (1) consumers who had a relationship with a financial institution; and (2) consumers with no relationship, but familiarity with a particular type of service. The results show that there is a marked difference in the level of trust between the two groups for all seven types of financial services.

Investigating this “gap” further showed that the factors contributing to the formation of trust differed between the two groups. These findings offer three practical implications for financial services companies. First, companies need to demonstrate consistent values in all channels, including operations. Second, companies can be intentional about creating “experience points” for building trust. Third, companies need to recognize that bad experiences negatively affect trust and spill over into other areas.

Further insight on these recommendations for practice and the analysis behind them were presented in a poster at the 7th Annual Academic Research Colloquium of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning on December 7, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia.

A related research brief, Pathways to Trust in Financial Services: A Closer Look, is available for download from the Center for Ethics’ website. The data explored here is applied further in the Center’s Trust & Leadership Certificate Program.