Happy Anniversary Team Hewins!
First of all, today is the fifth anniversary of our relaunch as Team Hewins. I can’t believe it’s been five years since we separated from our Midwest group and transformed from Hewins Financial to Team Hewins. Seems like yesterday.
During these five years we have been happy to welcome some new people to our team, and we are thrilled to have many new clients to serve. We are especially happy to recognize how long many of our team members and clients have been with us, dating back as far as the 1990’s.
The point is we can celebrate decades of continuity and successful teamwork. And we are excited about the next few decades, working with you and making many new friends as well. Thank you for making this possible!
So What Else Is New, Roger?
Promotions! Our team has been with us a long time, and it has been remarkable to watch and encourage their professional growth. What we are doing now is not so much making changes, it is more a recognition of the roles and responsibilities people have already earned and assumed. Our next-generation leadership has proven itself and is more than ready for their next steps. These steps primarily affect four people, and I will describe (briefly) what the plan is for each.
Roger Hewins, President
As one of the original founders, I have always worn many hats. My first hat has always been Advisor–working with clients is why I do this. As a founder I also had to run the company. I did things I enjoyed, like investments and mentoring, and things that were necessary, like performance reviews, compliance, legal documents, recruiting, negotiating, training….
Since we started Hewins Financial in 1999, I have been continually delegating as much of the management work as I could so I could concentrate on clients, investments and mentoring. Much of this was only possible thanks to the wonderful COO I was blessed with, Martha Post. She is next on this list.
My multi-decade process of moving out of “running the company” work is culminating in our appointing a new CEO. My title will change to Principal and Founding Member. I will also head our new Board, serving along with Martha Post and John Bussel.
I am not going anywhere, especially since I have handed off the hard work and I get to focus on my clients, our great team members, the Investment Committee and the Board. I am really excited about this!
Martha Post, COO (and former CIO too)
Martha and I have worked together since 1995. She co-founded Hewins Financial with me and has served with John Bussel and me on our Investment Committee for a very long time. Her work running the company enabled me to travel and build out the business as we grew our former company to 85 people, 2,000 clients and $5 billion in Assets Under Management.
Martha led the team transitioning us from Hewins Financial to Team Hewins. She, Mikhael, Ka-Tye and their team pulled it off in amazing fashion. That achievement set the stage for where we are today.
Like me, Martha is ready to pass on the “hard work” to the next gen, while she continues to do what she loves most. So we are appointing a new COO, while her title becomes Principal and Founding Member. She will continue to serve on the Investment Committee, mentor our people, and serve on the Board. Martha has grown an outstanding NextGen team, and her work will be passed into good hands.
NextGen Leadership: Mikhael Balachov (Chief Executive Officer) and Ka-Tye Koo (Chief Operating Officer)
Mikhael and Ka-Tye both joined us right out of the University of California, Davis and have risen through the ranks from client service and operations to their current roles in which they will be responsible for running the company itself. Both are graduates of The G2 Leadership Institute, a program for future leaders of advisory firms like ours. And both have ownership stakes in our firm, having been Principals for some time.
We are extremely fortunate to have these two well-prepared people ready to step up this way. We would be blessed to have even one of them–having two is amazing.
Mikhael Balachov, Chief Executive Officer
Mikhael joined us in 2005 when he graduated from UC Davis, but he had actually worked for us as a high school intern before leaving for college in 1999! He has shown himself to be a person with vision, not merely an outstanding executor and manager but a person who can see the future, create a vision, engage his colleagues and drive change.
I’m excited for Mikhael to take on the CEO role, not just because of the aforementioned attributes, but also because in his more than 17 years with us he has worked in nearly all of the departments. From Client Service to Operations and Marketing, he has transformed Team Hewins for the better – department by department.
Not surprisingly, given his track record, he became the youngest member of our Management Team. He has demonstrated a great capacity to grow and learn, and by now (not by coincidence) has demonstrated competence and leadership in virtually every part of our support structure.
You can read more about Mikhael’s background here and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Ka-Tye Koo, Chief Operating Officer
Ka-Tye joined us in 2010, also starting in Client Service and moving to Operations and Trading. After playing a critical role in the transition to Team Hewins, he took over both functions and has built an excellent team.
Ka-Tye has increasingly become client-facing, which contributes to our development of a continuously improving client experience. He is exceptionally perceptive and empathetic; he learns a lot about what people feel and need, and what services they value. These same qualities inform Ka-Tye’s work in another focus area for him–helping advisors to develop and bring their best to clients and the team.
You can read more about Ka-Tye’s background here and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Ka-Tye and Mikhael have worked closely together for over a decade and have very complementary skills sets and personalities. You could not ask for two people with more dedication and commitment. They are an amazing team, and we have all the confidence in the world in them.