By Jill Nagy
Konni Harrison calls herself a financial
concierge but she could just as accurately
be called a matchmaker, matching up clients
with financial advisors.
Drawing upon many years of experience
in the financial services business “and a
very deep set of very good people to work
with,” she interviews clients to ascertain
their needs and then “I help them find the
right financial advisor.”
Her company is called KMH Unlimited,
LLC. It was created in 2003 but she has
only been in this particular business for a
couple of months.
Harrison works with many novice investors who find the whole financial industry intimidating. “People who don’t understand what they’re being put into,” she said, describing her role as “explaining things in a language they will understand.”
Many of her clients are in the midst of life-changing experiences, such as divorce or the death of a spouse. Suddenly, they have to take responsibility for their financial affairs and don’t know where to turn for help.
Harrison’s first step is to “sit down with the client and do a summary of what their lives are about.” Then she turns to her Rolodex–“a pretty good arsenal of brokers and advisors” — and selects a few who might work for the client. She does preliminary interviews with the brokers and advisors then introduces them to the client. She accompanies the client to a few interviews with prospective advisors.
Harrison said she has a pretty good feel for how the advisors on her list operate, what firms they work with, their costs, and the types of clients they work best with. For these services, the client pays an “introduction fee” of $500. Harrison is not paid any fee by the brokers or advisors.
“This needs to be absolutely about the client I am working with,” she said, and she is careful to avoid conflicts of interest.
In addition to the introductions, Harrison takes on “specialty items,” researching specific investments and “answering the unanswerable questions.”
Harrison created the company when she was working with a brokerage firm. She found that clients needed help with investments that had nothing to do with her brokerage firm and this was a way to provide that service.
The company was dormant for several years while she worked in Chicago with her father, a broker. After her father died in 2011, she returned to Saratoga Springs.
She recalled that she was out walking her dog, asking herself “what am I missing?” when she got the idea for her present business. She revived KMH Unlimited and set to work. So far, she has “only a handful” of clients but is confident that the business will grow.
To stimulate that growth, she has undertaken a series of public workshops and seminars. In May, she will present a series of seminars on four Tuesday evenings beginning May 7. Details will be on her web page, http://kmhunlimited.com. There is a fee of $100 for the series or $35 for a single session. In June, she plans a free workshop.
In July, she will repeat the four-part series. Before that, she is off the Chicago to give the keynote speech at the Chicago Natural Resources Conference, a meeting and expo about mining and services companies try ing to attract investors. Her talk will be addressed primarily to women.
Harrison spent several years “following the thoroughbreds around,” working as an exercise rider and assistant trainer. She plans to return to that work as soon as the weather allows. “As long as my body holds out,” she said, she will continue to ride.
But KMH Unlimited “is my passion,” she said. “I want to give back to clients in an exclusive way. I know I am on the right track (with the concierge service) because some financial advisors are super-supportive and others just hate it.”
Harrison can be reached through her web page or by telephone at 871-1001.
Photo Courtesy of Konni Harrison