Employee Spotlight | Kristi de Grys

Employee Spotlight | Kristi de Grys

 

Renske: What is your role at Merriman?

Kristi: I’m the Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Merriman.

In my role as COO I have the responsibility, together with Jeremy Burger (Merriman CEO) and Tyler Bartlett (Director of Advisory Services), of the overall success of the firm. My main goal is to ensure we’re delivering a great experience for our clients and for our employees. That involves all aspects of the business, from benefits and a great office environment, to making sure our people have the right skills and tools to provide our clients with the best possible experience.

As CIO, I oversee the research team and am responsible for making sure we have the best investments available for our clients. In my time here at Merriman, I’ve helped launch several new funds in collaboration with Dimensional Fund Advisors, championed the widespread adoption of asset location across client accounts, and centralized trading and portfolio management functions.

Overall, my team and I are focused on delivering ever greater value through outstanding service, diversified investment offerings, and easy-to-use technology.

 

Renske: What is your favorite part of the work day?

Kristi: For me, it’s always about making connections with people and bringing out the best in others. Whether it’s for an employee or a client, knowing I’ve done something to elevate somebody else’s game is enough to send me home happy every time.

 

Renske: Tell me a little more about your family life

Kristi: My husband and I have been married since 1998, and together since 1994 – more than half my life! We have two children: Piper, who will be 12 next month, and Anders, who will be 10 in May. Spending time with them is something I truly love and enjoy.

As a family we love to play boardgames, and we’re big into cooking. Now that the kids are a little older, we have been able to do some grand travelling. We went to Australia last summer, and this year we’ll visit the Netherlands and Greece. We’re already planning next year’s trip to South Africa as well.

Renske: Any fun facts we should know?

Kristi: I own a flag that flew in the space shuttle…is that cool?

Renske: WHHAAT???

Kristi: I used to work in rocket science, and all rocket scientist have something that flew into space!

 

Client Service Account Specialists – Who are we and what do we do?

Client Service Account Specialists – Who are we and what do we do?

Our financial lives are like jigsaws with a thousand pieces that only fit together with thoughtful, precise coordination. Each part of the wealth management procedural process presents potential challenges like paperwork submissions, complex legal requirements, and complications when corresponding with other financial institutions. Merriman helps solve these challenges with the help of a professional team of advisors, researchers, and operations staff, with the client services department acting as the glue that holds it all together.

In a nut shell, client services act as a liaison between the client, the custodian, and the wealth advisor. Client services implements and executes everything that you have discussed with your advisor. They talk the talk—client services walks the walk!

In the face of all these hurdles, our goal in client services is to lift the weight off your shoulders by completing tasks in minutes that could take you hours spent on hold and getting bounced around thanks to our experience and relationships with other financial institutions. We are also the first point of contact when you visit or call our office. And pride ourselves on providing warm, professional, and quality service every time you walk through the doors or one of your calls lights up our phone. We possess a broad knowledge and can assist with answering your questions or linking you with an expert. For all those times when you need a quick money transfer or confirmation of a recent trade, client services can help sort out those questions in one fell swoop.

Our client service all-stars go above and beyond for every client. Just imagine you’re heading into retirement after a fulfilling career with half a dozen happy employers, but now you have to figure out how to roll over all those 401(k)s! Instead of wading through that mire of paperwork on your own, we can prep the forms, gather your signatures, print the postage, and get those 401(k)s rolling so that you can hit the golf course.

Since none of us are springing out of telephone booths in red capes, how does client services pull it off? We manage all these super human feats by building relationships with our advisors and clients. We collaborated with our advisors daily to tackle the latest objectives for managing our clients’ assets. These strong bonds translate to our clients and their families. We value long-term relationships and prioritize our clients to take care in addressing every task. Whether celebrating a new (grand)child or coping with the passing of a loved one, we are here to support you throughout all phases of life.

And to get a picture with the voices and names, this us. Our individual bios can be found here.

Employee Spotlight | Chris Waclawik

Employee Spotlight | Chris Waclawik

Renske: What’s your role at Merriman?

Chris: I was initially hired as an associate advisor in 2014. I was still doing my CFP studies at the time, so being able to do advisory work concurrently with my studies really prepared me for the financial advisor role at Merriman. I completed the CFP course and became a financial advisor about two years ago and started to manage my own clients. Besides being a financial advisor, I also manage the associate advisors. It’s nice to see the initial group of advisors I first managed in this role are now wealth advisors or have moved on to different roles within Merriman. I’m currently managing a new group of associate advisors at Merriman. They’re still relatively new, and it’s a lot of fun to guide and mentor them.

Renske: What do you love about your job?

Chris: I love my coworkers, and I like the regular client interaction and the feeling I get knowing we’re making a big difference in people’s lives. I love that I never feel bad in the morning going to work. I’ve experienced that in previous jobs, but right now, when I wake up, it’s always a positive feeling. The thing I love the most about my job is figuring out how to solve complex problems for my clients through research, inquiring, and working with my co-workers.  It’s really cool to learn more — especially about problems I don’t know the solutions to initially — and then go back to inform and implement the solutions for my clients.

Renske: Tell me a little bit more about your family life.

Chris: I am originally from the Kansas City area, and so is my wife, Katharina. We’ve been married for 12 years. She is a veterinarian. She used to work for the army as a vet, which had us living in South Korea for a few years. Once she quit working for the army, we moved to Washington. We are the proud parents of 2 daughters. Samantha is three and Evelyn just turned one. We’re very outdoorsy and love to go on hikes, take backpacking and camping trips, and go bike riding. My three-year-old is now able to cycle by herself and joins me when I go for a run, which is a ton of fun. We don’t have any pets at the moment. We always had cats and dogs, but since our last dog passed away, we promised each other to not get any more pets until the kids are a little older.

Renske: What’s your ideal date night?

Chris: Ooh my! I have not seen a single movie in 2018 from beginning to end! Before we had kids, we used to go to see plays and musicals fairly often. We’re hoping that soon we’ll have some more time and energy to go out on dates together again.