Raj Bhatia: Don't shy away from hiring your own child
Advisors who are thinking about succession planning should consider hiring their children, particularly if their offspring is genuinely interested, has ample work experience, and can bring expertise to the firm, says Raj Bhatia who has been with Merrill Lynch since 1981. Today, the private wealth advisor at the $2.5 billion Bhatia Group, which is part of Merrill Private Wealth Management, works alongside his daughter, Ariana.
'My daughter grew up in a household where the dinner conversations were all around things like clients and markets and so forth," Bhatia says on the latest The Way Forward podcast. 'And fortunately for me, she decided to go into business and finance with her education and career as opposed to following her mother's footsteps in becoming a doctor."
After a few years working in private equity, Ariana concluded that it wasn't an ideal fit. 'She said to me, 'I've done that and I recognize that you go from one transaction to the other [in private equity], but Dad, I have seen you build relationships where your first client is still your client. That's what I want to do with the rest of my career.' So, the time was right and the firm helped me to bring her over. That's how she joined me last year and I'm glad that I got her in."
Below are highlights from our conversation, which have been edited for clarity.
His advice for advisors considering hiring a family member. 'When I get calls from other advisors in a similar situation, the thing I say to them is that there is a big difference between retirement planning and succession planning. In retirement planning, you're planning for one person. In succession planning, you're planning for many people and start the process 10 years ahead of time if you wish to leave a legacy."
Minimize regrets. 'Most people optimize income and returns. I say minimize regrets. When I said this to her [Ariana], it was obvious that [this was better] than her coming back in 10 years saying, 'Dad, why didn't you ask me to join your business? If your adult son or daughter says, 'Dad, Mom, thanks but no thanks,' then you have read them their Miranda rights! It's up to them. Then they can't say 'I have a regret because you did not encourage me.' It can work out. When it works out, it works out very well."
The pros far outweigh the cons. 'The upside in these moves can be huge. And the downside, I think, is limited in the sense that it's nothing irreversible should things not work out. The thing that I would suggest to people is to give it a fair amount of runway. In other words, I'd say a minimum of three to five years of runway where you're spending the time to mentor. That will produce better outcomes and results."
Navigating the personal and the professional. 'Treat them as equals. Because if they're joining your business and you're still treating them based on how you see them as your offspring—as they say, 'they're born of us, but they're not us'—you have to acknowledge that and be ready to have a mechanism, a structure in place where the best argument wins or the best suggestion wins, as opposed to, 'Mom said this, Dad said this, and this is my way.'"
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Investors Rush to Pour Cash Into $7.4 Trillion US Money-Market Fund Industry
(Bloomberg) -- The rush of cash into the US money-market funds is showing few signs of slowing as it secured a record $7.4 trillion in assets. Bezos Wedding Draws Protests, Soul-Searching Over Tourism in Venice One Architect's Quest to Save Mumbai's Heritage From Disappearing NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports Investors have poured more than $320 billion into the funds so far this year, according to Crane Data LLC, making it one of the biggest benefactors of the Federal Reserve's current monetary policy. That's something of a surprise for those on Wall Street who'd gone into 2025 assuming officials would lower interest rates and sap the attractive returns offered by the industry. '$7 trillion can easily be $7.5 trillion in 2025,' said Deborah Cunningham, chief investment officer for global liquidity markets at Federated Hermes. 'Five-percent-plus rates were nirvana, four-percent-plus is still very good — and if we dip down into the high threes, that's quite acceptable as well.' The average simple seven-day yield is now 3.95% for government funds and 4.03% for prime, an 8 basis point spread, according to Bank of America Corp. It's a compelling backdrop as some 600 participants gather at the annual Crane's Money Fund Symposium, which kicks off Monday in Boston. Money funds have seen their coffers swell in recent years, notably in early 2020 for their haven appeal and again as the Fed's rate-hiking cycle boosted yields. Even as the Fed pivoted to cutting rates last year, assets continued to rise, with these funds typically slower to pass along the effects of lower rates when compared to banks. Households have been a key driver of the inflows. Since the Fed started raising rates in March 2022, total assets under management in US money funds have swelled by roughly $2.5 trillion, and retail investors have accounted for about 60% of that, Investment Company Institute data show. Data from ICI exclude firms' own internal money funds, unlike Crane Data, which tracks the money market industry. Inflows have continued even as the industry sees some investors embrace alternatives, such as ultra-short funds in the fixed income or equities, Cunningham said. Overall, though, it's a far cry from the exodus of cash from money-market funds that some on Wall Street had forecast. 'It's not surprising asset levels have held on and grown,' said Michael Bird, senior fund manager at Allspring Global Investments. 'Even if the Fed picks up its easing campaign this year, rates will still be relatively high.' The Fed last week laid out forecasts for two quarter-point rate cuts this year, aligning with market pricing. Although the risk that conflict in the Middle East drives up oil prices and causes a resurgence in inflation remains an uncertatinty, traders see a quarter-point reduction as likely in September and all but guaranteed by October. Given that interest-rate backdrop, money-market funds are trying to extend the weighted-average maturity — known as WAM — of their holdings as long as possible to capture elevated yields. Fund managers have also adjusted holdings to compensate for the effects of debt-ceiling drama. While Wall Street strategists largely expect the government to raise the debt limit as part of the reconciliation process by late of July or early August, some funds have put more cash toward repurchase agreements — loans collateralized by Treasuries or agency debt — as an alternative. Still, 'the expectation is when the debt ceiling gets resolved, there will be a significant increase in bill issuance, which helps yields,' Bird said. 'Uncertainty is helping our product.' Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
South Wales Argus
8 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Home Secretary decides to proscribe Palestine Action after ‘disgraceful attack'
Yvette Cooper confirmed the move after Palestine Action vandalised two planes inside RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday. The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police. The ban under terror laws will make it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, and will be punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A draft order will be laid in Parliament next Monday. Ms Cooper said in a written ministerial statement: 'The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton in the early hours of the morning on Friday 20 June is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action. 'The UK's defence enterprise is vital to the nation's national security and this Government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.'
Local Italy
9 minutes ago
- Local Italy
Florence's Uffizi to clamp down on selfies after visitor damages 18th-century artwork
The man had been attempting to strike a pose in the style of the Grand Prince Ferdinando dei Medici, a 1712 painting by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, when he fell backwards into the canvas, Italian media reported. The damage was light and the artwork would be repaired and returned to the exhibition within days, the museum said in a statement. But the broader issue of clumsy tourists vandalising Italy's artistic heritage needed addressing, it added. 'The problem of visitors coming to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant,' said Uffizi director Simone Verde. 'We will put in place very strict limits, preventing behaviour that is not compatible with the spirit of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage.' As of Monday, Verde hadn't yet specified what kinds of restrictions the museum planned to impose. There have been numerous cases of reckless visitors causing damage to Italy's artworks in recent years. Last week, Verona's Palazzo Maffei launched a manhunt for a couple who broke an art piece by sitting on it and fleeing the scene. In 2023, a spate of incidents of vandalism at Rome's Colosseum prompted the site's director to blast visitors who were 'primarily interested in taking selfies.' 'The will of the tourist-vandal is to leave their own mark, because we are by now a society oriented towards ourselves,' said Alfonsina Russo. The number of people charged with 'defacement of cultural heritage' has seen a steady increase in Italy over the past few years, Il Messaggero newspaper reported at the time.
