Getting Ahead
Life and Work
at Home
April
25, 2005
article by Amy Baldwin
My
First Job
How I Got My Start
A
stylish transition to botique investing
On this day, Anne McPhail is dressed
in a beautiful white and mint green
floral-patterned suit. Every hair
in her classic bob is in place.
It's easy to guess what she thought
about being when she grew up.
"I originally wanted to be a clothing
or shoe designer but quickly found that
I would starve in that industry," she said.
Fortunately for McPhail, she has a
head not only for style - but numbers.
She became a banker.
Her first job was in the training program
with Florida National Banks in Jacksonville.
After the program she sold corporate treasuries
for the bank When Charlotte's First Union bought
Florida National in 1989, she moved here
and sold the bank's treasury management services.
McPhail continued with First Union after it was acquired by Wachovia in 2001.
But she recently left corporate banking.
She's now senior vice president at Novare
Capital Management, a boutique asset management
firm in Charlotte. Novare has about $92
million under management, according to
co-founder Don Olmstead. The firm
caters to wealthy clientele who have
at least $500,000 in investable assets.
McPhail found ways to be creative in her
banking career. Five years ago, she joined
First Union's Capital Management Group.
She helped affluent clients manage their
assets and plan their estates.
Two years ago, she added to her
expertise by earning the certified
financial planner designation.
"The best way to use my creativity is
to help people with (financial planning)," she said. "Every client is different
They all have different stories to tell. it is our
job to interpret the story and help them reach their financial goals."
Earlier this year, McPhail left Wachovia,
wanting to spend more time with her family.
She was also tired of
commuting to the bank's Concord offices.
Her early retirement turned
out to be short-lived - just
six weeks. She ran into Jill
Olmstead, wife of Don Olmstead
- one of two founding partners
of Novare, which opened in March 2000.
Jill told Don, who knew McPhail
from having worked in Jacksonville
himself, that McPhail had left
Wachovia. By March, McPhail
was at Novare, where her
primary responsibilities are marketing
and wooing new clients. Of course,
she also does financial planning.
BEST ASPECT OF MY FIRST JOB
I accompanied the corporate bankers on client calls - great exposure to the relationship management side of the industry.
WORST ASPECT OF MY JOB
Limited technology. As was typical of the time,
we had only one computer in the credit
department. Once when making a spreadsheet
on the bank's largest client, I pressed the
wrong key and erased it. At the time,
I thought that it could -be my last day in banking
MENTORS AND WHAT THEY TAUGHT ME
My father and my maternal grandmother.
My dad taught me that you can achieve
great things by working hard and being
a kind and fair leader. My grandmother
was a devout Catholic whose faith remains
an inspiration to me.
MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT
Personally: marriage to Carl McPhail and the birth of our children - son, Carl, 8, and, daughter, Braden, 6.
HARDEST LESSON LEARNED
Failure can be a
character-building experience for a perfectionist like me.
WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE?
Volvo SUV.
WHAT DOES YOUR CAR SAY ABOUT YOU?
I am a busy mother of two.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?
Seafood and Asian cuisine.
