I can assure you on January 1, 1976, that I was only thinking about how to get to the end of my first year in business. There was not a thought about fifty years into the future. Especially because I had tried and failed at starting a financial planning business five years before as you can read about in my 25th anniversary letter on this website. I can tell you with certainty what got us through these fifty years was God’s providence delivered through dedicated people who shared a common ethic and commitment.
In that 25th anniversary letter I mentioned I had been in the life insurance business and when I went into the financial planning business the first time, I knew more about what I didn’t want to be than what I wanted to be. By the time I founded what became Petra Financial Advisors I had developed a whole different attitude toward potential clients. In the life insurance business a person went from being a “suspect” to a “prospect” to a “client.” It was a scorecard relationship. At Petra we established a friendship attitude toward potential clients. Our manta was and is “you can’t always make a client but can always make a friend.” Before I had an office, being invited into a person’s home or office felt like a privilege. In the life insurance business we were taught to view it as a victory, a score. After I had an office, inviting someone into my office was the equivalent of inviting them into my home. Their first visit was always without charge, and I wanted to be sure it was worth their while. After thanking them for taking time out of their busy schedule to see me, the first question I’d ask them was, “What one thing can I do for you today or one question can I answer that will make this time worthwhile for you?” I am confident that this attitude of gratitude still permeates Petra today. The specifics may vary but not the commitment.
Petra is an investment advisory firm driven by our commitment to the financial planning goals of our clients. Typically, investment advisory firms make their mark by maximizing the investment returns of their clients, but that can often fly in the face of the risk tolerances of clients. Petra takes the stance of “enough not more” just for the sake of more. The financial plan determines the important goals you have and the rate of return necessary to create a high probability of achieving those goals. Our investment management is designed to earn that rate of return within a risk profile that makes you comfortable We are in the business of achieving our client’s goals, not making a name for ourselves in the investment management community.
What I have just shared with you is all well and good but without good people dedicated and committed to carry it out, it won’t happen. Petra has been blessed with such people over the last 50 years. The longest tenured employee with Petra has now been with the firm longer than I was with the firm! I really should give a shout out to each and every one of the employees, but I will concentrate on two who are no longer with Petra but were very critical to creating what Petra has become today and symptomatic of the level of commitment that is found in every one of our employees.
Nettie Brooks had been my secretary at the firm I went to work for when my first attempt to become a financial planner failed. When I set up the firm 50 years ago that evolved into Petra Financial Advisors and opened my first offices a few months later, she agreed to come to work for me with no commitment of a salary. What?! I told her I’d pay her 20% of my gross income until she had received in total what she would have received in salary if she had stayed employed where she was. Without hesitation she came to work for me on a “wing and a prayer”. She was more than just a secretary. She was a client hostess. When there wasn’t enough money in the business account to buy the necessary supplies, somehow or other the needed supplies appeared. When clients came in for an appointment there was always coffee and treats available. She was always there for me and the clients. Near the time of her retirement another critical time in the history of Petra occurred January 17, 1994. It was the Northridge earthquake. I had moved from Woodland Hills, CA to Three Rivers, CA and put on my retirement training wheels. And in 1993 Dave Forbes, Jon’s father and my partner, had moved to Colorado Springs to begin the process of moving the firm there. Neither one of us were there. The earthquake was big one, well over a 6, and did considerable damage. Our office building was condemned. All of our computer equipment was thrown all over the room and was not working and we couldn’t remember the password. Fortunately (I forget who and how) we got the computer equipment up and running in a timely fashion. But Nettie was back in her role again holding the hands of our clients, most of whom where still in the area affected by the earthquake and rattled by it the same as we were. She was again a stabilizing force. And she continued in that role for another 2 or 3 years as we had to operate out of temporary quarters while we continued to transition to Colorado Springs.
The other person I want to highlight is Connie Hancock. Connie came to work for Petra in an administrative role. By this time I was fully retired and because she was in Colorado and I was in California, it was difficult for me to get to know her all that well but nevertheless, I could tell she was one sharp lady. So I began to encourage her to enroll in the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® course of study. Then, we had a chance to attend a program together so I could encourage her face-to-face. It worked, and she enrolled, and when she passed or maybe even before she passed Dave put her in charge of the financial planning process at Petra. It was the best thing that ever happened to Petra’s financial planning process. When I started the company and during my entire time with the company I was the entire department. I am a terrible delegator. No not just terrible. I just didn’t delegate at all. So over time, as the firm grew, things have a way of falling through the cracks and not getting done. Reviews that should have been done weren’t done, etc. Connie was a very systematic person. She systematized the whole process, hired staff, delegated and made it very efficient with measurable outcomes. I have been a client of the firm now for some years, and I can see it in operation from that perspective. It beautifully works thanks to Connie. And now Jenn Hernandez is carrying it on without a misstep.
FIFTY YEARS WHO CAN BELIEVE IT? I HAVE A FEELING JON FORBES WILL BE WRITING THE SAME HEADLINE FIFTY YEARS FROM TODAY.
~ Ben Coombs, Founder