Northern Trust realized about two years ago that more and more LGBT clients and perspective clients were seeking answers to the growing complexities of their financial situations. Due to the increasing phone calls the company was receiving and the rapidly altering legal landscape, the organization recognized a need for a dedicated practice group focused on LGBT and alternative families. Today, the Chicago-based company has launched the first dedicated LGBT-practice group in the nation.
"They were looking for a provider who could really advise them," explained National Practice Leader John McGowan. "We were getting enough of these calls that we realized, why don't we take a look at this in a more formalized way. That was the sort of genesis of a pilot project that we did here in our home office of Chicago."
The two-year pilot program focused on internally educating the organization to be able to provide the answers clients were seeking. "We've been educating our front line, our client servicing team, our new business developers, to ensure that they understand the legal and tax challenges that the LGBT community and unmarried couples face so that we are not learning with our clients."
McGowan leads the practice alongside Mark Braun, national practice liaison. The pair has the full support of senior management for the practice group as well as a dedicated team of individuals ready to help them as the practice spreads out nationally beginning this year.
"We have developed LGBT-based business-development committees in each of our target markets, beginning here in Chicago," McGowan explained. "We have about 15 people that attend our meetings here and help us build out our networks and offer bridges into the Chicago and Midwest community and we have similar sized groups in Callifornia and Florida, which are the other two key markets that we are focusing on right now. These people have their regular roles and responsibilities, but they're helping us by becoming specialists and go to people in each of the markets that we are focusing on."
McGowan will focus his efforts on continuing to build the infrastructure of the practice internally, while Braun is working to build external relationships. Education will remain a key component of both men's roles over the next year.
Braun said of his particular role, "A big part of my responsibility is a lot of networking with outside centers of influence, estate planning attorneys, realtors, accountants, people that we can actually partner with to assist the LGBT community, and then also working with the LGBT not for profits."
The two said that the greatest challenge facing the practice group is the legal landscape.
"What seems to be the greatest challenge for the LGBT client base is really the uneven and constantly evolving legal landscape in the legal recognition of our relationships," McGowan said. "It is hard to stay on top of that. Now that we are going to have civil unions here in IL, what is that going to mean to our clients?"
Another complex issue the company is currently watching closely is how the IRS deals with community property in the future now that the IRS has decided, at least in California, to recognize as community property what the state recognizes. McGowan mentioned that whether the IRS follows this stance in additional states with the same or similar community property recognitions is still to be seen.
The organization's hope is that a dedicated practice group will be able to follow the legal changes quickly and provide accurate solutions for their clients.
While critics have stated that at the end of the day the practice group is really all about the money, Northern Trust has built a solid foundation of involvement internally and through community outreach with the LGBT community. It also doesn't hurt that the two men leading the practice group are both gay themselves.
Braun said, "Northern Trust has a LGBT resource council and that's the affinity group here for employees. That's been around since 1994. The company has, for many years, been a supporter of such not-for-profits as Howard Brown, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Center on Halsted. Actually, in 2006, Northern Trust gave $150,000 to the building campaign for the center."
Since the pair were promoted to their roles within the new practice group they have helped Northern Trust extend their involvement to additional foundations as well, including the Point Foundation and Lambda Legal. The company has become national sponsors for both organizations.
McGowan and Braun don't dispute that it is a great business decision for the company—one they hope does make a healthy profit.
"We are a for-profit organization and this is business for us," said McGowan. "We have an affinity group that focuses on bringing equal benefits to our employees and community support. What Mark and I are doing is a for-profit endeavor, but we also believe that what we are delivering is a service and expertise that is badly needed. It brings a lot of value to the community. ... There are clearly advancement opportunities at Northern Trust for employees working on this with us and we are delivering a product and getting paid for it out in the marketplace."
Both men hope to see the practice group grow and gain traction throughout the country.
"I want to see us fully develop this practice in every one of our marketplaces," said McGowan. "While it is fully available throughout the country right now and we have experts in each of our offices, I really want to see the energy and the focus that we've created in our pilot project and are now introducing in some of these other key markets. I want to see this throughout all of our offices in the same level of intensity."
Braun added, "This is something dedicated. It's not going to go away and we'll continue to build on our success."
