Client Fulfillment

Meet Joan Welch, Cece Olack & Meni Frangias

• Joan Welch
  Client Relations
  “I work with the future clients of Compass Point,” Joan Welch says. When prospective clients have turned in their financial profiles following a Compass Point workshop, Joan goes to work. She processes the information used by the financial advisor to draft and present a plan.
  
  “I keep in mind that every person’s situation is different, and so every financial plan will be unique. Our goal is to present a plan that does more than illustrate an accurate financial picture—it also must be a working tool to help them reach their financial goals.”
  
  Joan maintains that Compass Point is unique. “Our Financial Advisors literally look at every aspect of a person’s life in order to prepare a really comprehensive analysis. Sometimes clients wonder why we need a list of their expenses, but it is attention to detail that ensures the very best financial plan possible.”
  
  “Eighty percent of my job is client contact” Joan claims. “The other twenty percent is data entry and review.”
  
  Client contact is a natural for Joan, who has worked as a Human Resources representative and as an employment recruiter. “I always try to put myself into the client’s shoes,” she says. “I try to make a connection. The human contact is my favorite part of the job.”
  
  Joan, who has a BS in Business Administration, took some time off from work to raise her daughter, who just turned eleven. When the time came to return to the workplace, Joan felt fortunate to have matched up with Compass Point.
  
  What gets Joan out the door in the mornings? “A sense of purpose to the day.”
  
  And to recharge her batteries? “Exercise. Yoga. And time spent with family in Andover, Massachusetts.”

• Cece Olack
  
  Much of the technology business of Compass Point is handled on CeCe Olack’s watch. This Florida native has strong experience in both finance and technology fields, and until she took a 13-year “leave of absence” to raise her two sons, she worked with several large Boston financial firms and ran her own business. Now, at Compass Point, she handles a variety of administrative tasks from overseeing data base operations to preparing review reports to researching software and systems that will keep Compass Point on the cutting edge. The task of getting a financial services firm like Compass Point “technology ready” is ongoing and constant; things are always changing, and CeCe Olack is making certain that her company is state-of-the-art.
  Asked about her relationship with Compass Point, CeCe says: “There is a strong emphasis here on the welfare of the individual, and this allows people to do their best work and in a shorter period of time. For me it is a perfect fit.”
  One of CeCe’s goals is to simplify the material she prepares for her clients. “Simplify it but without compromising it,” is how Compass Point’s technology expert puts it. “I want to make sure to bring everything to an understanding. After all, communications trumps technology.”

• Meni Frangias
  
  “Touching base with clients on a regular basis,” that’s Meni Frangias’s nutshell description of her job. Meni’s is the pleasant voice that many Compass Point clients hear several times a year when she calls to check in, saying: ”Just calling to say hello and to see if you have any questions.” When there are questions, Meni jots them down for the financial advisors to handle. She is also in charge of the firm’s schedules—a busy job in an office like Compass Point’s.
  In short, communications is Meni’s task. Some clients simply appreciate the regular call Meni makes, but for many others, it is an important chance to talk. And Meni’s goal is to be an individual whom clients feel they know on a first name basis. The financial advisors also depend on Meni’s communications skills for fielding client concerns and for keeping schedules straight.
  Meni began her career in the banking industry but when her son and daughter, now teen-agers arrived, she stayed home to be with them. Two-and-a-half years ago she came to Compass Point, but she still spends afternoons at home in Peabody with the children. Job flexibility is one of the things Meni most appreciates about working at Compass Point, and she gives high marks, as well, to the people she works with.
  Meni Frangias and her husband were both born in Greece, so it follows that cooking, especially Greek cooking, is one of her passions. She also plays the piano (classical stuff, she says) and enjoys traveling with the family.