Advisor-Centric Firm Delivers Satisfaction

An emphasis on a positive company culture and strong client relationships put 1847Financial at the top of its field.

When Penn Mutual CEO Eileen McDonnell reached out to former colleague Jim Meehan in 2011 and asked if he’d be interested in taking on the challenge of turning around the company’s worst-performing financial services firm, he said he would—with one caveat.

“I wanted to do it my way,” says the now managing partner of Philadelphia’s 1847Financial. “I wanted to pursue a nontraditional and advisor-centric structure in which team members partner together to help clients achieve their goals. I wanted advisors empowered to make decisions without having to wade through multiple levels of management, and I wanted everyone to feel like an integral part of our success.”

Meehan did it his way, and the gamble paid off. Today, 1847Financial is No. 1 among 26 Penn Mutual financial services offices, a full-service firm with more than 100 advisors who provide estate, investment, and retirement planning services; lifestyle, money, and tax advising; and insurance strategies.

Emphasis on Company Culture

The advisor-centric structure contributes to a healthy company culture, one that has landed 1847Financial on the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania* list several times. But there’s more to it than that.

“This is a complex industry,” says Lisa Davis, Managing Director. “Advisors in other firms are expected to know it all— insurance, planning, investing. But our infrastructure allows advisors to utilize business and planning specialists across departments, which, in turn, allows our advisors to play to their strengths. This results in improved client relationships and satisfaction and decidedly more satisfied advisors.”

Diversity of thought is also essential to 1847Financial’s leadership. “I’m a 54-yearold white male. I fully understand that I need to surround myself with people who think differently and have had different life experiences,” Meehan acknowledges. “I’m proud that we’ve assembled a team that resembles our community, and I’m committed to ensuring the same moving forward.”

Beach Ball Philosophy

“Doing it my way” had many different meanings to Jim Meehan when building 1847Financial in 2011. He knew that the foundation needed to be radically different from the competition.

“As a Naval Academy graduate, I was raised in a top down, command, and control environment,” says Meehan, “which is the environment that you see in many corporate settings. However, when thinking about our organizational chart, I did not want a top or a bottom. I wanted something that showed more interdependence, and from there, the ‘beach ball’ philosophy was born.”

The “beach ball” philosophy is one in which everyone’s voice and opinion can be heard and respected. To represent this, team members sign their name to a real beach ball to show their commitment to making 1847Financial the best it can be.

Cultivating Client Relationships

Due to the firm’s relationships with Penn Mutual and Hornor, Townsend & Kent (through which the firm offers investment advisory services), 1847Financial is a proud industry disruptor.

“As a Mutual company, we don’t answer to stockholders. Our clients are our only priority,” Davis explains. “Penn Mutual and HTK are wonderful partners, allowing us the opportunity to build an organization with access to tier-one products and services that focus on the needs of the client first.

Meehan further describes the firm’s planning process as crucial to the client’s  long-term financial security.

“We are, at our core, a life-based financial services provider. Putting protections in place to ensure the security of our clients’ families and their wealth is critical, and we can call upon tax and estate attorneys and CPAs for assistance if the client doesn’t have such advisors of their own,” he adds. “After that is the fun part—creating the retirement of their dreams, planning for charitable giving, leaving a legacy—whatever is important to our clients, we’ll do what we can to make it happen.”

Registered Representative of and Securities and Investment Advisory services offered through Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc. (HTK). Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC. 1847Financial, 161 Washington Street, Suite 700, Conshohocken, PA 19428 Phone 610.771.0800 Fax 610.771.1000. HTK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn Mutual. 1847Financial is not affiliated with Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc. *The Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania list is determined by a public/private partnership between Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Pennsylvania State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Central Penn Business Journal. 2348552RM-Dec20.