FA Magazine March 2025 | Page 38

COVER STORY

Susan Kaplan CFP , MBA Founder and President Kaplan Financial Newton , Massachusetts

Get Out And Get Known

And she did so by getting involved in local professional groups as well as social events where she could network . And this was not simply about pushing her business card in someone ’ s hand , she says . “ It ’ s more that you volunteer , do an incredible job . And suddenly , people assume you probably do an incredible job in everything .”

Tapping the local media is also great for exposure , Kaplan says ; she suggests advisors send articles on financial matters to the press with an appealing piece of art and even their photos . People will then begin to know who you are . “ Because until you get clients , you ’ re just a financial planner and a phone .”

Through volunteering and networking , Kaplan rose to become president and chairman of the board for the Institute of Certified Financial Planners ’ chapter in Boston for four consecutive years . She headed the internship program at Boston University ’ s financial planning program for 10 years .

“ I was shocked that even [ through ] the professional organizations where everybody was CFPs , I got a tremendous amount of referrals ,” she says .

Kaplan did not set out to be a financial advisor . She used to be the

head nurse for the cardiac surgery intensive care unit at a hospital in New York . But it was too much for a married mother with two young kids . She took 10 years off to be with them .

She earned an MBA in finance from Boston University in 1985 . Jobs were scarce when she graduated , she says .

She did research and applied for part-time jobs , landing with two insurance guys who did business with large corporations that were looking for financial planning . She worked on the financial plans for the top executives in those companies .

In 2004 , she launched her firm , which today has grown to 11 analysts and an office manager and manages $ 3.4 billion . She is one of a few women in the industry who has been recognized annually on multiple Barron ’ s and Forbes lists .

As her practice grew , she never felt the need to “ dump her little clients ,” as others have suggested . “ Some of my biggest clients came from those little clients . Things happened to them . They inherited money ,” she says .

She also has no plans to retire or sell her practice . “ The firm will go on after me .”

Kaplan recalls others saying how hard it would be to work in a maledominated field . “ But I was only treated better than men all the way through , from peers , from clients , from everyone . And so , that I found shocking .” A lot of that , she notes , had to do with the fact that the clients preferred women , and “ having a certain amount of gravitas .”

She urges young advisors to always present themselves as professionals to clients , especially in how they dress . “ If you don ’ t look like a professional , the big clients will never give you the big money , ever .”

And never burn bridges . “ Life is long and you ’ re going to run into people over and over ,” she says .

— Jacqueline Sergeant

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36 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | MARCH 2025 WWW . FA-MAG . COM