FA Magazine March/April 2026 | Page 40

COVER STORY

Kelly Henning

Wealth Manager, Principal Modera Wealth Management Westwood, N. J.

Elizabeth K. Miller

2025 CFP Board Chair Founder and President Summit Place Financial Advisors Summit, N. J.

Empowering Women, Building Futures

She joined full time in 2009 in a client service role. Over the next decade, she climbed steadily through the roles of financial analyst, advisor and senior advisor, earning her CFP designation and a master’ s degree in financial services along the way. In 2020, she became a principal at the firm.

Today, Henning oversees roughly $ 340 million in assets under advisement and leads about 800 client relationships. She also serves as advisory manager for three Modera offices in New York and New Jersey. Her path from intern to principal reflects what she calls the firm’ s“ open-door, no-glass-ceiling culture.” Modera will host six interns this summer in her offices alone— a pipeline she knows firsthand. But it’ s her client focus that defines her practice.

Henning has developed a particular passion for working with women, especially those navigating transitions: divorce, widowhood, career shifts or retirement. About 35 % of her clients are women( not counting those in couples). One of those stands out, a client Henning guided through a difficult divorce. There was a post-settlement meeting, Henning recalls, when the client said the planning process had changed how she viewed her future.“ That emotional impact,” Henning says,“ is why this work matters.”

She believes many women investors underestimate their capacity for growth. Studies show women often skew more conservative in portfolios, even when their time horizon allows for greater risk. Henning leans into education— breaking down risk-return trade-offs, demonstrating the power of compounding and ensuring asset allocations reflect both the client’ s goals and confidence levels.

Her approach is comprehensive. Modera operates under a fee-only model, and Henning is a firm believer in minimizing conflicts of interest. She provides fullspectrum planning, including retirement, investments, tax coordination and estate strategy, and she’ s helped champion the firm’ s expansion into Medicare and Social Security consulting. Modera now partners with outside specialists, covered under client fees, to guide retirees through high-stakes healthcare and claiming decisions. Looking ahead, Henning sees technology as a help to advisors, not their replacement. AI tools can improve efficiency and analysis, she says, but they can’ t give a client any context for what they’ re hearing.“ We know the full picture— the family dynamics, the trade-offs, the opportunity costs. That’ s where real advice lives.”

Outside the office, Henning’ s life is equally full. She’ s married to her college sweetheart, an engineer whom she credits as a steadfast partner in balancing career and family. Together they’ re raising two young children, and she volunteers with her daughter’ s Girl Scout troop.

Her philosophy is simple: Serve clients well. Keep learning. And create space for the next generation in her family, her firm and the industry she loves.

— Tracey Longo

Making A Gift Of A Crisis

She had spent almost a year setting the stage for a successful new chapter in her career, and her registered investment advisor approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission was only days away.

“ Right across the Bloomberg monitor was the news that Lehman has declared bankruptcy,” she says. She shut her office door and panicked. A global financial crisis hadn’ t been in the plan at all.

But in a way, the financial crisis was a gift. While her industry friends were focused on whether they’ d lose their jobs, she was already focused on building something new.

“ Of course, I was very worried that the assets were going to be significantly lower than I had first modeled out,” she says.“ But I also was able to realize we’ d seen the bottom. So, yes, it was a fraught fall of 2008. But it only got better and better from there.”

And what she was building was something that was uncommon at the time. Affluent families with $ 5 million or more were facing growing complexity— intergenerational gifts, tax coordination, estate questions— but no one seemed to be tying it all together.

“ Those families were not the Rockefellers, and they were not those with $ 20 million going to the private back room at J. P. Morgan. But they were families who were realizing they had a lot of complexity in addition to their investments,” she says.“ At the time, very few firms were talking about anything holistic, and very few firms were actually delivering true wealth management.”

Her vision for Summit Place Financial Advisors was to bring clarity to her wealthy clients’ lives by simplifying their finances and focusing on their needs. And the concept paid off. Summit currently has $ 300 million in assets under management from just 37 family relationships. She and her staff of five provide all the high-touch service they require.

What motivates her day-to-day remains those close relationships.“ I still totally get jazzed when I really am helping clients,” she says.

Despite the demands of her job, Miller has carved out time to support the profession, and the women in it. She served as chair of the CFP Board in 2025, and she has been both mentor and advocate for other women.

Assessing the industry, Miller sees strong demand for female advisors, but uneven support. After some thought, she graded the profession a B- / C + on opportunity for women.“ When I started my firm we were probably a C-, so we’ re definitely improving,” she says.

But the demand for help is creating A + opportunities for women advisors.

— Jennifer Lea Reed

36 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | MARCH / APRIL 2026 WWW. FA-MAG. COM