2020
YEAR IN REVIEW
Greenleaf Trust is a comprehensive wealth management firm with specialized disciplines in goals-based wealth management, trust administration and retirement plan services.
As one of Michigan’s first privately held and managed trust-only banks, our independence frees us from conflicts of interest and ensures that our clients’ well-being is at the center of everything we do. Client-aligned and talent-driven, we adhere to the highest standards of fiduciary excellence, while providing personalized service and customized solutions.
2020
YEAR IN REVIEW
Greenleaf Trust is a comprehensive wealth management firm with specialized disciplines in goals-based wealth management, trust administration and retirement plan services.
As one of Michigan’s first privately held and managed trust-only banks, our independence frees us from conflicts of interest and ensures that our clients’ well-being is at the center of everything we do. Client-aligned and talent-driven, we adhere to the highest standards of fiduciary excellence, while providing personalized service and customized solutions.
Chairman’s Letter William D. Johnston Chairman
Every step of the way, our teams rose to the task of creative thought and positive action to make great things happen. Dear Greenleaf Trust Clients and Friends, Once again, it is my sincere honor to present to you on behalf of our entire Greenleaf Trust team our 2020 annual report. To state that 2020 was a unique, challenging and, in many ways, troubling year would be a huge understatement. Throughout our country’s history, we as a nation have faced many periods of uncertainty and strife. We have endured together through our collective wisdom and actions. Perhaps not always perfect, but in the end enough to carry through the crisis at hand to build new and better opportunities for the days ahead.
Though our world has experienced several pandemics, there wasn’t a paint-by-numbers kit available or an existing manual for COVID-19 that would lead all of us through the challenges that we would face. Within our annual report, you will learn of the fabulous and inspiring teamwork exemplified within each division of Greenleaf Trust. The lessons learned and solutions developed are too numerous to list in this welcome letter, but they were framed by the simple questions of “what do our clients and teammates need during these extraordinary times?” and “how can we deliver on those wants and needs?”
Many late hours and weekends were spent in collaborative discovery of remote and mobile platforms. Traditional methods and systems were challenged and often changed to meet the new requirements of delivering on our client service standards in the COVID-19 pandemic environment. Every step of the way, our teams rose to the task of creative thought and positive action to make great things happen. Our systems, resources, and human capital were tested in ways that were simply unimaginable yet every test was met with resolve, collective wisdom and the underlying philosophy of delivering on what our clients and teammates need. Perhaps the most impressive lesson that was reinforced for me is that the business and workplace culture of Greenleaf Trust does not need or depend upon buildings or offices. The culture that we have built is the result of the work of the Greenleaf Trust team members, each possessing huge servant hearts. Working remotely can test the very core of business and workplace cultures. Connectedness and meaningful communication can erode, attention to detail can fade and relationships can weaken. What I observed is that collectively within our team, relationships mattered, communication intensified and personal attention to detail never missed a beat.
We found new ways to support our clients’ needs as well as the new and emerging needs of our teammates as each struggled to find a new normal of working in close proximity to friends and family while others struggled to work in a new environment separated from friends and family. Unwilling to let the pandemic deter us from our commitment to contribute to a more perfect union, our team continued to engage and make intentional progress on our diversity, equity and inclusion promise. I am tremendously proud of our collective team’s determination. We did not allow the challenges of COVID to keep us from growing in critically important ways. This determination speaks volumes about the strength of our Greenleaf Trust workplace culture and how precious it is to our team. On behalf of our wonderful Board of Directors and talented executive leadership team, I offer sincere thanks to our Greenleaf Trust clients. We remain grateful and are humbled to work on your behalf; it is a privilege that we hold very dear.
President’s Letter Michael F. Odar, CFA® President
As you may know, we adopted a mantra of “Business as Unusual” in March of 2020. Happy New Year! Usually this greeting sounds funny after the first or second week in January, but I think it’s appropriate to continue to use until at least June of 2021, all things considered. As you may know, we adopted a mantra of “Business as Unusual” in March of 2020. That slogan became the foundation of how we approached our business of serving clients throughout the rest of a very unique year. I could not be prouder of what we were able to accomplish. As you will read throughout this annual report, we continued to add new talent, enhance our client experience, expand our value proposition, explore new opportunities, improve processes, build upon organizational diversity, and provide support to our remarkable team and the communities in which we live and work. We were, and have been, successful because we are a team. One teammate that embodied our core values and approach to our business in 2020
deserves to be highlighted. Nicole Asher, Vice President and Senior Wealth Management Advisor, was our 2020 President’s Award winner. Established in 2013, the annual award celebrates the best of the best with respect to unselfish accomplishments of our teammates. Nicole has been with Greenleaf Trust for over 13 years and is consistently singled out in client surveys for going above and beyond. When the world changed in March, her leadership took center stage. Clients that immediately received a call from her to inform and reassure them knew it came from her heart. And internally, she was consistently at the front of the line whenever a teammate needed a helping hand. We are definitely excited about 2021 and are anxiously looking forward to interacting with our clients, colleagues and community members in person once again.
The team’s steadfast and selfless care for our clients was awarded with record client satisfaction, record client retention and record new client referrals. The client centric team’s daily mission is to provide remarkable service through the delivery of holistic wealth management, advanced financial planning and expert trust administration. We pursue this aim by focusing first and foremost on the needs, wants and desires of our clients. We then leverage the collective wisdom of the team to provide highly personalized service and customized solutions. The year 2020 was both gratifying and humbling in this regard, as each of our talented professionals rose to the challenge of navigating our clients through severely choppy financial waters. When the reality of the pandemic hit, seizing the economy and crashing the stock market, the team had already jumped into action. We successfully accomplished a year’s worth of financial planning, client communication and portfolio repositioning in a matter of weeks. This relentless pace rarely let up as the year of lockdowns, fiscal stimulus, civil unrest, and political polarization unfolded. However, the team’s
steadfast and selfless care for our clients was awarded with record client satisfaction, record client retention and record new client referrals.
Through Our Clients’ Eyes Our annual client satisfaction survey is designed to gauge Greenleaf Trust’s collective efforts from our clients’ perspective. We not only want to know if we are delivering on our promises, but we also crave candid feedback on our shortcomings. Analyzing the results helps us more closely align the voice of our clients with our daily impact. The aim is to listen to client comments and suggestions so that we can enhance the services provided on their behalf. Despite the difficult backdrop that accompanied 2020, we experienced our highest client response rate and our highest satisfaction scores to date. A summary of what we heard our clients say follows.
While we are exceedingly pleased with the high marks received, we recognize there is always room for improvement. So, in order to achieve our standing goal of 100% client satisfaction across all measures, we are intently focused on the specific suggestions and comments provided by our clients.
Fiduciary Excellence and Purposeful Growth During the year, we put a number of internal innovations into practice. Each was identified, designed and implemented to ensure our role as fiduciary was executed at the highest levels and to allow our team members more time with and for our clients as we grow. Some of the broad highlights include an upgrade to our client relationship management system, further build-out of our estate settlement practice, delivery of a comprehensive training program, and implementation of numerous workflow automations. We also added talent to all of our offices around the state of Michigan and hosted our fifth and largest “Day of Caring” in February prior to the social distancing restrictions. Teammates were given the day to form groups and volunteer together at a nonprofit of their choosing within their respective communities. Over 1,000 hours on this day alone were spent giving back to food pantries, youth programs, resource centers and other nonprofit institutions within the communities in which we live, work and seek to remain deeply rooted.
In addition to growing our capacity to serve, we also take great pride in recognizing personal growth, growth in role and impact in role within our overarching mission of remarkable client service. During the year, Doug Bajor earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation and Stacy Beekman earned the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation. Several teammates were also recognized for their growth and impact throughout the year receiving the following promotions: Anne Bohl – Wealth Management Coordinator II Rachel Mortensen – Estate Settlement Associate Eddie Warr – Wealth Management Associate Hanna Channell – Senior Client Centric Team Specialist Steve Davis – Senior Wealth Management Associate Autumn Fromm – Team Service Coordinator II Mark Jackson – Vice President, Senior Wealth Management Advisor Beverly Whaley – Team Service Coordinator II Kevin Jawahir – Senior Vice President, Director of Personal Trust – Development
99.7%
find their client centric team members to be easily accessible
99.7%
feel their questions and concerns are answered in a prompt and satisfactory manner
99%
2020 Client Satisfaction Survey Results
99.7%
99.3%
feel as though they are treated as a very important client
believe their accounts are tailored to meet their unique financial goals and objectives
believe we are successful in meeting their investment needs
98% expressed
satisfaction with our account statements, performance reports, newsletters and seminars
100%
believe we listen to and understand their unique goals and objectives
99.3%
are satisfied with the frequency of contact
Retirement Plan Division Chris A. Middleton, CTFA Executive Vice President, Director of Retirement Plan Division
Helping more than 22,000 people retire with dignity is noble work. To say 2020 was a unique year for the Retirement Plan Division would be an understatement. Governmental policy restrictions and societal mandates in response to COVID-19 certainly disrupted our normal business practices. In response to this environment, the Retirement Plan Division pivoted into new practices to provide the always important help our employers and participants need and expect. Although the style of client interactions morphed largely into the virtual world, our availability was not significantly hampered at any point in the year. Beyond all the virtual platform interactions, 2020 was a year of significant legislative changes. The year started with the enactment of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which was the most sweeping legislation impacting retirement plans since the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001. Among other things, SECURE made it easier for small businesses to offer 401(k)s, and relaxed standards for contributions and withdrawals for certain individuals. It also raised the Required Minimum Distribution age to 72 from 70.5 but eliminated the Stretch IRAs for non-spouse beneficiaries in an effort to help pay for the changes. Then came the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act at the end of March. The CARES Act instituted options to increase distribution options to displaced or struggling workers
and also increased the limits of those distributions. An offshoot of CARES was the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) which also affected retirement plans due to the provisions allowing PPP funds to be used for funding retirement benefit expenses. Throughout all of these legislative changes, we strived to proactively keep clients informed and aware of their options under the law. Although our new business growth was not quite as strong as originally targeted, we were able to bring on several new clients throughout the year. In a year that may have presented the toughest sales environment imaginable, the Retirement Plan Division still expanded our client base and reach. We are proud to report our divisional assets have now grown to nearly $1.3 billion. Merger and acquisition activity has steadily increased over the recent years. A number of our business clients were sold or acquired during 2020, which triggered many business owners to pursue the services of our client centric team and the Family Office at Greenleaf Trust. It is very rewarding to help business owners optimize their financial picture as they exit businesses. These connections highlight our continued goal of providing holistic wealth management services to our clients throughout all Greenleaf Trust divisions.
To build our divisional expertise, Chris Sharp and Melissa Coffin successfully passed part one of their Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) designation program. To facilitate our continued growth, we also added talented new team members to the Retirement Plan Division. Victor Perez and Ondrea Brussee joined the participant services group and Christie Dando became part of the relationship management group. They have proven to be valuable members of the team and are committed to enhancing the high expectations of our client service capabilities.
All of our competitors attempt to provide strong retirement services. Some of them even adopt some similar “best practices” of the industry. Ultimately, it is the talent of our team and our commitment to top-tier client service that allow us to execute in the multitude of areas required to provide great plan governance and fantastic participant outcomes. Helping more than 22,000 people retire with dignity is noble work. We remain committed and proud to be accomplishing this lofty ideal in 2021 and all the years ahead.
You have seen us take a very patient, controlled and methodical approach to our organizational growth. With the benefit of being privately owned, we have the unique opportunity to manage Greenleaf Trust for the next quarter century versus many who are fixated on the current fiscal quarter. As a result, you have seen us take a very patient, controlled and methodical approach to our organizational growth. We do not take the commitment of entering a new geography lightly; we look at the community through many lenses, considering the strength of available talent and community involvement, among other factors. Then we assess whether our strengths, our culture and our value proposition would be favorably received
within the community. Through this process, we have identified a few areas that would respond to the Greenleaf Trust message and approach. One of those locations is the Tri-Cities area which includes Midland, Saginaw and Bay City. Our plans for 2021 include selecting strong local talent to establish a Midland-based office to serve the Tri-Cities. This area possesses many qualities similar to those of our other locations where independence, community involvement, alignment of clients’ objectives and depth of planning resonate.
Research Nicholas A. Juhle, CFA® Senior Vice President, Director of Research
As a research team, our mission is to create comprehensive investment solutions that help our clients reach their financial goals. As I think back to this time a year ago, 2020 actually started out innocently enough. Equities rallied into the New Year, continuing a bull run that began in October 2019. We thought the prospects were good that the longest economic expansion in U.S. history would extend for another year. Little did we know that by the end of the first quarter, a global pandemic would abruptly end the expansion and throw financial markets into a tailspin with the S&P 500 falling 34% in just 24 trading days. In spite of an unprecedented start, the year finished with most traditional asset classes posting gains well in excess of expectations we might have had even before the pandemic. With global equities up more than 16.5% and core bonds up 6.5%, even a balanced portfolio returned more than 13%.* Overall, our portfolio recommendations were effective in generating excess returns for our clients driven by allocation decisions and outperformance from actively managed strategies in domestic and international equity categories, fixed income and alternative investments. As a research team, our mission is to create comprehensive investment solutions that help our clients reach their financial goals. Our in-house team includes professionals specializing in portfolio construction, asset allocation, manager selection, equity research, fixed income research, alternative investments,
and trading. Our success depends heavily on the continued growth and development of our team. In 2020, three teammates were recognized for their growth and impact throughout the year, receiving the following promotions: •C hris Burns – Vice President, Investment Strategist & Senior Fixed Income Analyst •L ucas Mansberger – Vice President, Investment Strategist & Senior Manager Selection Analyst • Sam Riethman – Trader and Fixed Income Associate In addition, Chris Burns earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, Lucas Mansberger completed the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) certification, and our intern (now associate) Benny Musookho, completed the CFA Institute Investment Foundations® Program. Despite an ever-changing landscape, continued investment in the talent and tools comprising our platform, disciplined approach and long-term orientation serves us well in our efforts. Investment decisions are made in alignment with our documented investment philosophy and always with the intention of serving our clients’ best interests. On behalf of the entire division, we remain both honored and humbled by the opportunity to manage our clients’ wealth.
* Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P. Global Equities = 75% domestic equities (S&P 1500 Composite Index), 15% developed international equities (MSCI EAFE Index) and 10% emerging market equities (MSCI Emerging Markets Index). Fixed Income (Bonds) = Bloomberg Barclays Intermediate Government/Credit Index. Balanced Portfolio = 60% Global Equities and 40% Bonds.
The Family Office at Greenleaf Trust Thomas A. DeMeester, J.D. Managing Director
Throughout 2020, we deployed a full suite of wealth advisory services on behalf of our client families. The Family Office at Greenleaf Trust serves a specialized segment of clients whose circumstances and needs are unique in both scale and complexity. The events of 2020 took this to an altogether new level, and crystallized the value of our multifamily wealth management services. The deep-rooted bond of trust that we share with our client families and their advisors is one we patiently earn over time by coming to understand their wants and needs, their concerns and challenges, the events we collectively foresee down the road, and what they want their wealth to ultimately enable. An analogy we often reference proved true in 2020: Just as a house needs a blueprint to be built, so does wealth. Throughout 2020, we deployed a full suite of wealth advisory services on behalf of our client families, including family wealth blueprint design services (clarify planning, optimization planning, family office services), comprehensive and consolidated wealth reporting, investment advisory services, fiduciary and custodian services (Michigan and Delaware situs-based administration), philanthropic services, and lifestyle
enhancement services. We work with families at every level of the wealth continuum, from first generation wealth creators, to second generation family investment and fiduciary offices, to multigenerational single family offices. In 2020, we collaborated on behalf of our client families with multifamily family office consultants, legal and tax advisory firms, valuation firms, single-family family office staff and dedicated advisors, philanthropic advisors, and investment advisory consultants. Our substantively skilled team members brought their extensive professional backgrounds to work in concert with our client families’ trusted advisors in order to fully integrate collective knowledge and insight. While several wealth planning targets may have unpredictably shifted throughout the year, our Family Office clients experienced a disciplined strategic process of wealth advisory development and execution in furtherance of their refined goals. We remain privileged to work alongside our Family Office clients, their staff and advisory teams. We look forward to the opportunities 2021 will bring our way.
The operations team is dedicated to continuous process improvement while ensuring the highest levels of client service. The year 2020 presented many opportunities for our organization. During one weekend in mid-March, we were able to test and enable remote-working capabilities for all of our Greenleaf Trust team members. Throughout the remainder of the year, we continued working remotely while ensuring client disbursements, deposits, trades and other transactions were executed in a timely and accurate manner. Our operations team continues to mature and evolve with the ever-changing business environment. In 2020, we increased the sophistication of our tax reporting team by adding two team members in tax specialist roles. Melina Reed and Marisol Quiroz join Jessica Johnson in serving our client tax reporting needs. Several projects were completed, further enhancing efficiency while ensuring the accuracy of transactions. The operations team is dedicated to continuous process improvement while ensuring the highest levels of client service. The Business Information Services Division had many accomplishments in 2020. In addition to enhancing and fine-tuning our remote working technology, several key projects were completed. These included a significant upgrade to our Salesforce.com customer relationship management system which provides efficiencies and better reporting capabilities for Greenleaf Trust’s client centric team. We also continue
to evolve the integrity and safety of our client data through additional information security technologies. The Governance, Risk and Compliance Division was instrumental in guiding the organization through several key initiatives in 2020. Included were a number of external audits, state banking examinations, risk assessments, vendor management process enhancements and business continuity planning. As the regulatory environment evolves, this team will take the lead on ensuring compliance and safe business practices. It is with mixed emotions that I announce that our long-time Director of Compliance, Jennie Billings, retired at the end of 2020. Jennie was one of our company’s founding team members and was instrumental in establishing many of our business practices and policies during her 20+ year tenure at Greenleaf Trust. We will miss her tremendously, but she has agreed to remain with us in a part-time role through 2021 to continue her transition into retirement. Best wishes for a long and healthy retirement, Jennie! As a result of Jennie’s retirement, we had the opportunity to promote Tracy Gauthier to the Director of Compliance role. Tracy joined Greenleaf Trust in 2019 as assistant director of compliance, and has served a
number of years in compliance roles in the financial services industry. I am confident that Tracy will effectively lead our governance, risk and compliance efforts to keep Greenleaf Trust aligned with regulatory requirements. Promotions awarded in 2020 for the Operations Division, Business Information Services Division and Governance, Risk and Compliance Division: •A ndrea Stidmon – Senior Trust Operations Analyst –Senior Team Lead •H ayley Smith-Bailey – Senior Trust Operations Analyst •M ercedes Sims – Trust Operations Analyst •K im Van Duine – Vice President, Assistant Director of Business Information Services
•T odd Tetzlaff – Systems Architect – Team Lead •S alena Al-Saadi – Senior CRM Engineer • J ermaine Johnson – Senior Application Systems Analyst •T racy Gauthier – Vice President, Director of Compliance •Q uinn McCormick – Compliance Specialist Certifications achieved in 2020: •K im Van Duine – Certified Trust Operations Professional® I want to wish everyone a healthy, safe and productive year in 2021. We are honored to work on your behalf.
A steadfast commitment to our values will continue to steer our financial objectives and deliver stability for future generations. I would like to thank our clients and team members for their gracious welcome to Greenleaf Trust. In the midst of tremendous health and social concerns, I expected many challenges as I joined the organization as its new chief financial officer. What has been unique and incredible to actually experience, though, is an organization that is building on success and thriving. During this tumultuous period, many other firms cannot state the same. I will attest to the fact that this accomplishment is built on our unwavering commitment to our core value of being client-focused
first, which we achieve through collaboration and long-term plans for continuous improvement. Our 2021 financial objectives serve not only as a fiduciary expectation on performance but a continuing investment strategy in building capabilities within client engagement, human capital and differentiated services. As a result of our efforts, we are achieving strong performance within regulatory expectations and hold a healthy capitalization structure that serves as a foundation for longstanding prosperity.
Human Resources Karen Baldwin, CSP, SHRM-SCP Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources
Adding 14 team members in a normal year is no small feat, let alone while trying to do it all remotely. I could never have imagined the many challenges and opportunities we would experience in 2020 as we worked through the uncharted territory of a worldwide pandemic, social justice and a complete change to the way we recruit, hire, work and take care of each other. I’m amazed, but not surprised, at our resilience and teamwork as we continued to provide the best service to our clients. In March, the entire Greenleaf Trust team pivoted to working from home. Video conferencing became our new best friend, proving to be a great tool for remaining connected and continuing our process of interviewing and selecting exceptional talent to join the Greenleaf Trust team. In 2020 we hired and on-boarded 14 new, highly talented team members; four of which were hired for Birmingham, Grand Rapids, Bay Harbor and Traverse City. Adding 14 team members in a normal year is no small feat, let alone while trying to do it all remotely. With all the executive orders and new laws and guidance set forth by the state, federal government and local ordinances, we formed a COVID-19 task force, made up of Beth Ann LaPointe, Bethany Cwalina, Tom Drews and me. Together, we monitored the quickly changing landscape, attended several webinars,
trained team members on safety precautions, and wrote new policies and procedures to keep team members and clients safe as we continued to do business in our new “Business as Unusual” environment. As schools started closing and we realized we would be working remotely for quite some time, several team members got together to create Greenleaf Cares and update our wellness program to better meet the needs of our team. Greenleaf Cares helps supplement reasonable and necessary additional expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds are available to assist with childcare, tutoring, educational assistance, technology, or other expenses that allow team members to focus on our clients during the day. We worked together to create a safe environment in the office and a flexible environment for those that need it. Although the world outside our walls was rapidly changing, we enjoyed a 98% team member retention rate and 88% on our cultural assessment which measures team members’ satisfaction, engagement and inspiration. We are grateful for the ability to provide a safe environment for our clients and team members as well as the opportunity to continue growing our team to meet client needs.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Karen Baldwin, CSP, SHRM-SCP Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources
Our core values embody the spirit of working together and valuing everyone for the talents they bring. No one could have imagined the year we would face in 2020, as a company and as a nation. We navigated our way through situations we have not experienced in our lifetime, with no road map to follow. The social unrest this year brought great uncertainty for many, as well as a very clear resolve to listen, hear each other and just plain do better and be better, in all areas of our lives. Greenleaf Trust has had a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout its existence. Our core values embody the spirit of working together and valuing everyone for the talents they bring. Last year, we announced the creation of our diversity and inclusion workgroup, which was brought together by team members passionate about creating change. We set out on a journey to learn, educate our leadership team and ourselves, and figure out how to make a difference. Although we are young in our anti-racism journey and have many opportunities for growth, we are proud to share the actions we have taken in 2020. The diversity, equity and inclusion team: • Facilitated virtual book reading and discussions – in both large and small groups, including our entire leadership team – on “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo and “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi.
• Shared several informative and educational emails with our team members celebrating diversity honored months and activities in each of our business locations. • Partnered with ERACCE (Eliminating Racism & Creating/Celebrating Equity) to offer three virtual training sessions providing an introduction to systemic racism. As of today, 85% of our team members have participated in training along with several members of our Board of Directors and some nonprofit client leaders. • Created a strategic plan for our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts focusing on seven key areas with dedicated subcommittees:
– Employment Practices
– Policies & Procedures
– Mentoring
– Vendor Management
– Training & Education
– Workplace Culture Accountability
– Communication
• Worked with our marketing team to prepare several social media posts on racial justice, Black History Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, Juneteenth, as well as many posts celebrating the successes of our Greenleaf Trust scholars.
• Assisted Greenleaf in being honored as a 2020 Salute to Diversity Award Winner for Diversity Focused Company through Corp! Magazine.
– Diversity, equity and inclusion team members crafted responses to Corp! Magazine’s survey and participated in a live panel discussion as part of the awards conference to speak on diversity, equity and inclusion within a small, privately owned company.
Twenty-one years ago, our Founder and Chairman recognized a need to encourage more students of color to study finance and pursue careers in the financial services industry. He funded a scholarship program at the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University. The program that started with one student has now grown to awarding 13 scholarships and providing three paid internships at Greenleaf Trust annually. In the 21 years since the program’s inception, 81 students have received scholarships and many have gone on to prestigious companies, including Greenleaf Trust, with positions in a finance-related field. This year, we honored six graduates with a virtual celebration. Greenleaf Trust has a long history of community volunteering and giving, which we plan to continue. In 2020, during a pandemic, our team volunteered nearly 2,000 hours for local community nonprofits in our areas of business.
Key Statistics (interns not counted in percentages) Full organization – 148 team members • Five generations:
– 1% silent generation
– 24% baby boomer
– 40% Gen X
– 34% millennial
– 1% Gen Z
• 59% female/12.5% females of color • 41% male/13.3% males of color • 13% persons of color
Greenleaf Trust’s Guiding Principles Respect, Transparency, Democracy, Advocacy and Confidentiality.
Vision/Mission/Practices Statement Vision – We are actively working to become an anti-racist organization that fully supports diversity, equity and inclusivity at all levels. Mission – We seek to cultivate a culture of diversity, equity and inclusivity through hiring, awareness, education and training opportunities for our team members, clients and communities. Practices – We continually examine all areas of our organization, including employment practices, policies and procedures, training and education, communication, and workplace culture to ensure we are upholding anti-racist, diverse, equitable and inclusive values. It is important that our team members feel empowered to bring their authentic selves to work every day.
Greenleaf Trust Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team: Karen Baldwin, T’Ausia Bronson, Bethany Cwalina, Asa Davis, Kim Dudley, Lisa Hojnacki, Kevin Jawahir, Jermaine Johnson, Albert Little, Lisa Luebke, Lucas Mansberger and Kristen Tidd. We look forward to sharing our journey as we continue to seek out opportunities to increase our knowledge and create equity. We are confident that as our team becomes more diverse, equitable and inclusive, so will our thoughts and ideas; directly affecting the success of our organization, and benefiting our clients, teammates and communities in which we serve.
Our growth, nearly always, is driven by thoughtful referrals from clients and from the professional advisor community. The best laid plans, to paraphrase Scottish poet, Robert Burns, could have easily gone awry in 2020. But instead of giving in to COVID-19’s relentless march, we regrouped, kept our clients’ interests at heart, and pulled together a year-long calendar of virtual and in-person events. An especially fun example was our “tour partnership” with NuClassica, the celebrated electro-pop violin group, with whom we crisscrossed Michigan to bring spirited live performances to Greenleaf Trust clients and other guests. It was so uplifting to see so many smiling faces. We also went “old school” by hosting drive-in movies with themed meals and old-fashioned candy. We ended the year with a virtual, live-streamed Italian cooking class for which we delivered fresh ingredients beforehand to participants across Michigan and beyond. All in, we entertained and interacted with approximately 1,400 people at 23 events of which 43% were educational, 61% were in-person socially distanced, and 17% were virtual.
Embodying a Greenleaf Trust core value of continuous improvement, our marketing team’s Taylor Farrell undertook coursework at the American Marketing Association and the Digital Marketing Institute. Having fulfilled all requisites, Taylor now holds the dual distinction of being an AMA Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) in Digital Marketing, and a Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP), as accredited by the Digital Marketing Institute. On the civic pride front in the spring and autumn of 2020, the entire Greenleaf Trust team passed the hat and secured donations for area healthcare workers. We ran thank-you ads in media around the state and placed yard signs around communities expressing our appreciation to, and support of, these frontline heroes. Other measures of positive outcomes we achieved in 2020 can be seen in the categories on the following page.
2020 Social Media
• Great Place to Work-Certified™ 2020
• Increased our total audience by 23%
• 2020 National Best and Brightest in Wellness®
• Increased number of posts sent by 19%
• Michigan’s 2020 Best and Brightest in Wellness®
• Increased the total messages received by 82.3% (by 193% on LinkedIn, and 128% on Instagram)
• 2020 Corp! Magazine Salute to Diversity Awards – Diversity Focused Company Honoree
• Increased impressions (the number of times content is displayed to users) by 12%
• Metro Detroit’s 2020 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®
We are excited by plans to roll out targeted ads to increase our reach and awareness in 2021.
• Metro Detroit’s 2020 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® Elite Winner – Compensation, Benefits and Employee Solutions and Recognition
Through Google Analytics, we found that new users to GreenleafTrust.com in 2020 increased 38% over 2019. We will feature more of our community engagement and diversity initiatives in 2021 on GreenleafTrust.com.
2020 PR Results • 135 total pieces of media coverage • 27% increase in local coverage year over year • 47% increase year over year in overall coverage • Featured in Forbes, Millie (by Real Simple), bizwomen, Kiplinger, Wealth Management.com, Mlive, etc.
2020 Awards • West Michigan’s 2020 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® • West Michigan’s 2020 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® Elite Winner – Employee Achievement and Recognition • Crain’s 2020 Cool Places to Work
• 2020 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation® • 2019 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation® (announced January 31, 2020) • FIRST & 42 2020 Wonderful Workplaces Last but not least, while we were unable, for the most part, to meet face to face with prospective clients in 2020, we nevertheless had an exceptionally strong year in terms of business development and growth. We added new clients and increased our assets under advisement baseline at record levels. Our growth, nearly always, is driven by thoughtful referrals from clients and from the professional advisor community. We thank you for the confidence you place in us, for your ongoing support and valuable instruction, and for your gracious receptivity in giving us the privilege of serving you. Here’s to an ever-brighter outlook in 2021.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William D. Johnston Chairman
Ronda E. Stryker Vice Chairman
Ronald N. Kilgore Secretary
Ronald A. Elenbaas Barbara L. James Dr. Kay M. Palan Sydney E. Parfet David M. Thoms
211 south rose street kalamazoo, mi 49007 3 4 9 7 7 wo o dwa rd ave n u e , s u i t e 2 0 0 b i r m i n g h a m , m i 4 8 0 0 9 1 6 0 e a s t s t at e s t r e e t , s u i t e 2 0 0 t r av e r s e c i t y , m i 4 9 6 8 4 4 0 0 0 m a i n s t r e e t , s u i t e 1 5 0 b a y h a r b o r, m i 4 9 7 7 0 2 5 o t t awa av e n u e s w , s u i t e 1 1 0 g r a n d r a p i d s , m i 4 9 5 0 3
g reenl eaf t r u st . co m