Brittain Prigge, president and head of relationship management at US-based wealth management firm Balentine, wants to be a role model for other women coming into the financial advice industry.
She has been in the industry for 27 years and wants to encourage other women into it, claiming it is a good place for women to be successful.
“I do think women and men are different, but working together can enhance the client experience,” Ms Prigge said.
“Women listen more – and I want to be careful about generalising – but I totally believe that we have different perspectives and different values. It’s proven that women have a higher emotional intelligence than men, they are better at the soft skills.”
However, she has had her experience of sexism during her time in the industry. “When we were bought by Wilmington Trust, it was very male-dominated. There wasn’t anything overt that was negative in terms of inappropriate actions, but more a lack of respect for ideas, [as in] not even considering that I might have some ideas.”
Ms Prigge revealed she went to her boss, and said: “I can do some things that can make this job even better, and he said ‘Why would you do that?’”
Even worse, she recently hired a woman from Goldman Sachs. “It’s 2018 and I’m absolutely floored at the way she was treated. She was at a meeting and the prospect made overtures to her,” Ms Prigge revealed. She said the woman reported this to her manager, but instead of firing the prospect, the manager instead told her she was no longer handling that relationship.
“In a way, that’s punishment. That stuff happens all the time,” Ms Prigge said.
“You have to be thoughtful and you have to be careful and be strong. I think there’s not even a consideration or wanting to understand a different way or have a different opinion, or to see it’s unacceptable to treat people that way. I think a lot of people don’t grow up with the right values or understanding, and I think male chauvinism is very real.”
Change in attitudes
A big driver for changing attitudes would be bringing more women into the industry, and Ms Prigge, who is married and has two children, said this was the reason for her wanting to talk to more women about coming into the financial services industry.
She said: “A lot of it is that there aren’t enough women like me. We’re going to universities and recruiting from there and saying ‘this is doable’ and it’s easier because the flexibility is there to be able to do what you need to do.”
Part of her mission is to persuade women that becoming a registered investment adviser is not the same as a broker dealer, which is a more bonus-driven sales culture.
She recently spoke at a conference to a group of women and asked them about their perceptions of the workplace. “I said, ‘how many of you think that having a child will end your career?’ Every single person in the room raised their hand. Not only do I need to do something at Balentine, I need to do something [generally].
“There aren’t enough people like me, and I want to be able to show how it can be done and be a model.”
She admitted that she does not get it right every time, and has no intention of being the mother who organises all the parties. “I wouldn’t be good at that anyway. You don’t have to be that person, but don’t miss the big moments. There was one time that was really difficult, but the children said, ‘please don’t quit your job’. They said they didn’t mind because they see how much it drives me.
“You can’t do it by yourself and that help can come in so many different ways. I have a 76-year-old nanny who has been working for the past 16 years and she helped me raise our children. You must have support, and technology has allowed for you to be successful.”
Ms Prigge started off at Merrill Lynch, and she had someone introduce her to Balentine & Co as she wanted to work with people who were high net worth. She has been a bond trader and an assistant stock trader, but she said that women have to put themselves out there.
“Robert Balentine understood the value I could bring at an early age,” she said.
She became an equity partner in 2002, and headed up the southeast region of her firm after it was bought by Wilmington Trust in 2002, and in 2009 she left to set up new firm Balentine with some of the original Balentine & Co team, becoming head of relationship management and more recently president of the firm, reporting to the chief executive.
Ms Prigge ultimately enjoys working with entrepreneurs, often before they have sold their business, so they can plan the sale and work out what kind of standard of living they can have and how they can educate their children.
Named by the Financial Times as one of the Top 100 Female Financial Advisers, with any luck she can bring the same drive towards helping more women enter the financial services industry.
Melanie Tringham is deputy features editor at Financial Adviser and FTAdviser.com
