Morningstar - Q3 2023 - 71

working with clients directly. Referrals rolled
in, mostly from the Pac Bell business.
Beyond AT&T, her roster now includes many other
Fortune 500 company executives, a mix of young
professionals, midcareerists, and retirees.
Ready for Everything
As she honed the way she worked with clients,
she realized people keep financial information
everywhere. To get people better organized, she
put together The Everything Binder Book,
which she later published in 2019. She gives the
book to clients to help them organize information
that's needed in emergencies and family
deaths. It includes primary contacts, medical history,
insurance information, estate planning, retirement
details, final wishes, letters to loved ones, and
more. When clients have passed, the book helps
heirs find everything in one place.
The binder also serves as a tool when she meets
semiannually with clients, helping focus part
of the meeting on recent changes and updates in
their lives. Higgins also relies on Morningstar
to give customers their Portfolio Snapshot, which
highlights a comparison to the benchmarks,
information on investments held, and valuable
metrics such as the Sharpe ratio and alpha. Another
report, Investment Details, provides thorough
information on specific funds.
Michelle Perry Higgins, principal and financial
advisor, California Financial Advisors
How she caught our eye: Has built a thriving practice
that is widely recognized as one of the country's best.
Career path: Graduated from Saint Mary's College
of California in 1994. In 1996, joined a practice
under Lincoln Financial, where she had worked as
an intern in school. The practice went independent
in 1998, with Higgins making partner by age 30.
Personal: Married, with two daughters, 17 and 20.
Loves to spend time with family at a vacation
home on Clear Lake. The family lost the lake house
in a 2017 California wildfire but was able to
rebuild. She uses the loss to remind her clients to
be prepared for natural disasters.
Favorite funds: Low-cost mutual funds offered
by families such as Vanguard, T. Rowe Price,
Dodge & Cox, First Eagle, and Cohen & Steers.
Morningstar reporting also helps Higgins and her
colleagues research mutual funds. Higgins
does the investing and rebalancing of portfolios.
This year's runup of growth stocks allowed
her to do some trimming in client holdings. " I will
prune where there is profit and build back up
their defensive barriers, " she says. " I continuously
discuss the safety in their portfolio, as that
is the block used for their distribution needs, not
the risk side. "
In the process, Higgins seizes on those teachable
moments. " Educate your clients every time you
meet with them, " Higgins says. " And most
importantly, take care of your clients like they are
your parents. " K
Charles Keenan is a freelance financial journalist.
Photography by David Lees.
morningstar.com/products/magazine
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