“I like to tell people that it’s because I grew up and matured enough and he calmed down enough to where it works.”
That was the humorous answer Geoff Ratliff gave when asked how he and his father, Harry Ratliff, have managed to operate their company -The Ratliff Wealth Management Group at Merrill Lynch – so efficiently over the years.
Geoff, 47, and Harry, 76, have some 50 years combined experience in advising private companies, nonprofits, families and individuals on meeting their financial goals. The duo offers a range of services that include portfolio management, estate planning services, retirement planning, tax minimization strategies and more.
Maintaining a successful family-owned business, however, is replete with challenges. According to SCORE.Org, a business mentoring site, only 30% of family-owned businesses survive the transition from first to second generation. Additionally, a mere 13% of those enterprises remain in the family for more than 60 years.
The agency defines “family-owned” as “any business in which two or more family members operate the company, and the majority of ownership or control lies within a family.” Of the 28.8 million small businesses in America, 19% are owned by families.
Geoff’s comment about “maturing enough” was in reference to his early desire not to follow in his dad’s footprints. Yes, he and his sister, Jennifer, were aware of Harry’s hard work and determination to carve his own niche in the wealth management arena but neither were particularly keen on pursuing his entrepreneurial endeavor.
Before the kids were born, Harry had already started an advertising and sales promotion firm servicing corporations and educational institutions. By 1979, he had transitioned to a sales rep for Bristol Labs of St. Louis.
The 1970s were characterized by periods of economic turbulence known as “stagflation,” which included high inflation, high unemployment, an energy crisis, the declining dollar, deindustrialization and other worrisome economic woes.
Despite societal challenges, Harry – a studious observer of the economy – said he recognized a “changing business landscape.” The breakdown of regulatory barriers between banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms, he said, “provided people with a wide range of services through one network.”
“Baby boomers” (people born from 1946 to 1964), including some affluent African Americans, had risen to a point where they needed experts to help them “manage their financial resources going forward,” Harry said.
So, in 1983, he joined Merrill Lynch’s Clayton office. It was not an accidental choice.
“The number one reason I joined Merrill was because they had the best general training program on Wall Street,” the senior Ratliff explained. “So, I knew I’d get great training. Merrill was small then, but it was very diverse and has grown to be even more so in accepting everyone no matter their (ethnic) background. It’s a good place for exceptional talent to be recruited because the firm looks for excellence.”
Geoff said he was about 7 or 8 years old when his father joined Merrill Lynch. He recalled how he recruited him and his younger sister and their friends to stuff mailers for potential clients. At an early age, Geoff said he recognized his father’s “effort and hustle.”
“This was in the mid-80s when we didn’t have all the technology we have today,” Geoff recalled. “He (his dad) talked frankly to me and my sister about what he did – and not from just from a fiscally responsible, budgeting standpoint – but about the importance of finance and investing and how that helps over the long term. (He preached) the simple principles of compounding interests and getting involved in those things early and how it was all an equalizer if people could get a level of financial independence.”
Geoff said that both his parents (his mother, Deborah has since passed away) insisted education “was a gateway to whatever we wanted to do in life.” And, as he got older, Geoff said he recognized that his peers who didn’t have the same “educational foundation and opportunities” afforded to him and Jennifer, had “limited opportunities” as adults.
Geoff said his father never pressured him or Jennifer to join his business. So, when he reached adulthood, he set off to do his own thing. He got married and moved to New Jersey where he worked in what he called “entrepreneurial and nonprofit spaces.”
But, like his dad, Geoff, who is also business and finance-inclined, saw how his father’s industry had evolved even more. He said he came to believe that “advising people with comprehensive planning” and a career where he could make a good living while giving back and helping people appealed to him. So, Geoff moved back to St. Louis and joined Merrill Lynch in 2015. Three years later, he partnered with his father. The idea of building a “legacy” that could be passed down to future family members, he said, appealed to him.
The Ratliff Wealth Management Group is licensed in 18 states.
“I enjoy what we do because we help a lot of people,” Harry added.
“We’ve seen people who’ve been able to achieve the American Dream; sending their kids to college, put themselves in a position where they could enjoy a fruitful retirement. We don’t just manage people’s money; we help them manage their lives. We try to be part of the fabric of our client’s lives.”
SCORE lists numerous reasons why many family businesses tend to fail. They include conflicts that fuel little to no communication; confusing business revenue with personal finances; nepotism-placing loved ones ahead of better performers-and an unarticulated leadership structure or succession plan.
None of those reasons apply to the Ratliff father and son team. Even though he didn’t always take his father’s advice in his younger years, Geoff insists the duo works well together today, mostly because of their “complementary skills.”
“We are both good communicators with our clients. I get more into putting the plan together whereas he (Harry) is really sharp as far as the specifics around the investment management portion of it … figuring out the best products we use to help solidify people’s plans.”
The father/son component of their business doesn’t hurt either. It “resonates with our clients,” Harry added.
“Quite frankly, a lot of working families don’t work well together,” Geoff explained, adding: “We (he and Harry) don’t have any of the issues or nightmare stories you may hear of families that break apart because of failed business relationships.
“For us, the business has only brought us closer together and it’s really been a joy.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow and author of When We Listen: Recognizing the Potential of Urban Youth.
