The Wall Street Journal - 19.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Thursday, March 19, 2020 |S5

San Francisco No. 49

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Inna Kelly has carved outauniqueandhighly

successfulroleinwealthmanagementandturnedthe

usualtrajectoryforservicinganaffluentclienteleon

itshead.AmanagingdirectorinMorganStanley’s

SanFranciscooffice,Kellyservesasfinancialadvi-

sor—shecallsherselfa“lifefinancialpartner”—for

newbiehiresattechnologystart-upsinSiliconValley

and elsewhere.

Thoseindividuals,mostlyengineers,don’tnecessar-

ilyhaveloadsofmoneyinthebank.So,Kellybeginsto

assist them in the early stages of their wealth-gathering

cycle.Currently,heryoungestclientis28.

New hires at tech companies are paid primarily in

stock options. “There are a lot of decisions to be made

earlyon,”Kellysays.“There’salotofplanningbefore

you’refullyvestedorhavefullliquidity.Waitingtoolong

to make these decisions can cost clients a lot of money.”

Kelly,44,workstonotonlyguideclients,she

says,butalsogivethemasenseoffinancialcontrol.

“Througheducationandcoaching,Ihelpthemlook

moneyintheeyeandfeelknowledgeableandempow-

ered,” she says.

Inthiseraoftechstart-ups,theeconomicscanbe

difficult to grasp, and the anxiety hard to overstate.

Thatintensity“takesatollbothphysicallyandmen-

tally, and most people retiring from a tech company

needtomakesurethattheirmoneygrowsandlasts

throughouttheyears,”Kellysays.“Wealthaccumu-

lationisthemind-settheyhavewhenthey’retakinga

chance on a private company. Wealth preservation is

theirmind-setbythetimetheyleavethecompanyand

we start investing.”

Kelly’sofficeoversees$1.4billion.Herstaffoffour

includesatraderaswellasaresearchanalyst,who

notonlylooksatthemarketsbutalsodoesadeepdive

intocompaniesgermanetoherclients.Kellyandher

team create financial strategies, combining both active

and passive investments. They also handle the gamut

ofaclient’sfinances,fromacarpurchasetoacon-

structionloantofiguringouthowtocareforanaging

parent.Andthey’rereadytoassistifaclient’scompa-

nydoesn’tdowell,oriftheclientmustchangejobs.

“I’mextremelycompassionate,andIthinkthat

makesallthedifference,”Kellysays.“Insomecases,

IfeelthatIcaremoreaboutmyclients’financialwell-

being than they do.”—MATT MILLER

INNA

KELLY

Photograph byJESSICA CHOU

$1.4B

To t a l A s s e t s

$20M

Typical Account

$30M

Typical

Net Worth

Coral Gables, Fla. No. 30

UBS Financial Services

Ghislain Gouraige, managing directorof the

Gouraige Kaplan Ravinet Team at UBS in Coral

Gables, Fla., launched his wealth management

practiceatpreciselytheworsttime.In2000,just

ashewassettingupshop,thetechnologybubble

burstandthestockmarketcollapsed.

“Ihadpreparedadetailedbusinessplanand

approached10individualswhoassuredmethat

theywouldworkwithme,”saysGouraige,aHar-

vardLawSchoolgraduatewhobeganhiscareeras

acorporatelawyer.“Afterthefirstsixmonths,not

one,includingmyneighbor,followedthrough.”

Gouraige, now 60, turned his attention to entre-

preneurswhohadsoldtheirbusinesses,offering

tomanagetheirfreshcapital.Hespottedatheme:

Manywishedtheyhadscoutedforabetterdeal.

So,heandhisbusinesspartner,JaredKaplan,

swoopedintofillwhattheyidentifiedasanunder-

served market—and presale planning soon became

their core competency.

GouraigewasborninHaitiandmovedto

Albany,N.Y.,withhisparentswhenhewas8

yearsold.Hisfirmmanages$2.6billionandworks

withentrepreneurswithanaveragenetworthof

$50 million who have built midsize businesses in

real estate, health care, manufacturing, and other

industries.

Beforethevirus-fueledmarketdrops,Go-

uraigewasparingbackequityholdings,citing

high valuations, and adding exposure to bonds

andalternatives.Inthepasttwoweeks,he’sbeen

reminding clients that “we are in this for the long

term,andourportfolioswerebuilttowithstand

this type of market volatility.”

Within fixed income, municipal bonds serve

as core holdings. Portfolios are diversified across

theriskspectrum,withhigh-yieldmunicipaland

corporate bonds, floating-rate bonds, and mort-

gage-backed securities.

The scope of Gouraige’s work has expanded over

thepasttwodecades.“Wehavebecomeholistic

wealth planners,” he says. “We want to be the first

phone call for all things financial.”

Beyond investments and traditional financial-

planning services, Gouraige’s advisory role often

extendstolifecoaching.“Entrepreneursoftenhave

difficultyseeinglifeafterasale,”saysGouraige.

“Wehelpthemvisualizewhattheywilldo.”—K.H.

GHISLAIN

GOURAIGE

Photograph byALFONSO DURAN

$2.6B

Total Assets

$30M

Typical Account

$50M

Typical

Net Worth

BARRON’S SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT