Life at Balentine: 2016-17 in Review

If one were to categorize life at Balentine, he or she might say that we work hard for our clients, stay engaged in our industry, and manage to have a little bit of fun, too!

Balentine employees are highly involved in industry and peer-group organizations. Speaking engagements range from Head of Relationship Management Brittain Prigge’s keynote panel at the Barron’s Top Independent Women’s Summit to Chief Compliance Officer Erica Farber speaking about the complex world of compliance at the Pershing Advisor Solutions INSITE conference, and everything in between! Five partners are currently involved in Vistage, a CEO peer group, and CIO Adrian Cronje has traveled across the country to speak to its members.

Client Service Manager Emily Barbour is a 2016-17 graduate of The Philanthropic Advisor Leadership Institute (PALI), and Associate Relationship Manager Mike Binnicker was just accepted into the upcoming class. PALI, a collaboration between the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and the United Way of Greater Atlanta, provides financial, legal, and accounting professionals with educational opportunities to better incorporate charitable planning into their professional practices. Additionally, CFO David Damiani is an active member of the CFA Institute, frequently judges college stock pitch competitions, and is a popular guest lecturer at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

Balentine is grateful to have received many industry awards over the past year, including:

• Barron’s Top Advisors State by State – Robert Balentine (2017)
  For the third-consecutive year, Barron’s named Robert Balentine one of the country’s best financial advisors.
• Barron’s Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors – Robert Balentine (2016)
  For the third-consecutive year, Robert Balentine was named one of Barron’s Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors. He was the highest-ranked advisor from the Southeast in this annual ranking of the nation’s top independent advisors.
• Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors (2016)
  For the fourth-consecutive year, the Financial Times named Balentine one of the Top 300 Registered Investment Advisors. The list recognizes top independent RIA firms from across the Unites States.
• Forbes America’s Top Wealth Advisors – Robert Balentine (2016)
  Robert Balentine was named one of the country’s Top Independent Wealth Advisors by Forbes in the publication’s inaugural list. According to SHOOK Research, the firm behind the Forbes rankings, more than 11,000 nominations were received for this listing and more than 4,000 advisors were invited to apply.
• InvestmentNews Best Practices Awards (2016)
  Balentine was named a winner of InvestmentNews’ 2016 Best Practices Awards, an initiative that recognizes the top-performing and most innovative firms in the financial advice industry. Balentine was one of 12 firms across the country to receive this honor.
• Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management (2016)
  For the third time, Pensions & Investments named Balentine one of its Best Places to Work in Money Management. Balentine placed second among firms with fewer than 50 employees.

Balentine maintains an emphasis on continuing education. We host weekly all-firm meetings where any member of the firm can give a presentation on a topic of his or her choosing, from work/life balance and organizational tips, to how to conduct business in different cultures. Employee events are varied, representing the diverse interests and backgrounds of our staff. Recent events have included a family pool party, a tour of the Atlanta BeltLine, and a tailgate to cheer on the Atlanta Falcons ahead of the Super Bowl.

Perhaps the most popular event was our inaugural “Balentine Boos!” event founded by Marketing Associate Katie McClanahan. The festivities included a pumpkin hunt, pumpkin decorating, and trick-or-treating around the office. Family members and staff of all ages had a great time celebrating Halloween. Finally, Balentine has just completed the first year of its “Chef of the Month” program, founded by Client Service Associate Liz Smith. Each month, an employee prepares a dish and shares the recipe. Many have used this as an opportunity to share their heritage, as dishes have included South African bobotie, vinegret from the Republic of Moldova, Spanish empanadas, Greek pastitsio, and Hamantashen to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim. Almost all firm activities involve embracing community, sharing in diverse cultures, and getting to know and appreciate each other’s backgrounds.