We sat down with Christine Graham, director of trust administration and chief fiduciary officer, to learn how her career in private practice led her to UMB.
Tell me about your career trajectory. How did you end up at UMB?
I’ve had what I would call an organic journey to UMB. I started my career in private practice primarily handling estate planning engagements and fiduciary litigation matters. I was able to get to know UMB through some of the fiduciary litigation matters that I managed. I always had a great experience with the team and got to know the expertise and culture at UMB. So, when I was ready for a career change, UMB was the first place I called. I was thrilled to be brought on to the legal team and my career has grown to now serve as the director of trust administration and chief fiduciary officer.
Why did you choose a career in wealth management?
I actually studied journalism in undergrad, but after spending a semester at the student run ad agency, I knew it wasn’t for me. I decided to go to law school where I had to sort out which path I wanted to take. I thought maybe criminal law was for me, but after a summer tax class, I knew this was where I wanted to focus my law career. I really enjoyed being able to combine my skills of communication and my love for the law. I learned so much during my years in private practice, from creating estate plans with the client to litigating conflicts when the plan didn’t go as expected. The move to working as in-house counsel and my current role give me the opportunity to implement the client’s plan and ensure their goals are achieved. It all just naturally fell into place and I’m glad it worked out how it did!
What have you found most rewarding about working in the wealth industry?
I really enjoy watching our teams implement the estate plans our clients create. While I was in private practice, I designed and wrote many different estate plans, but rarely got the opportunity to see them in action. There is joy in watching goals be reached and in working with clients who are happy about the impact they are having.
What is one lesson you’ve learned from managing people?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers with my team. I want my team to share their ideas and speak up. My door is always open, and communication is paramount to me. Especially at UMB, it is part of the culture that we care about our associates as individuals. I try to build relationships and leave room for others to share so we get to the best solutions and everyone feels good about coming to work.
How have you tackled change in your career?
Change is the only constant in life. For me, I try to embrace change. One of my niches in work has been tackling projects no one else wants to work on. I enjoy the complexities and the tough situations that need to be solved, and this often involves managing through change. From creating new systems or processes to tackling a hard case – I love the challenges that can come with my job.
What do you hope to achieve in your time at UMB?
Making life better for UMB clients and associates is something I hope to achieve. I love to solve problems so I hope whatever problems arise for a client or an associate that I can be part of the team that solves it. I hope UMB becomes a stronger organization because of the different ideas our associates bring forth.
UMB has long touted that it hires the best people, and they stay with the company, resulting in long-tenured associates with deep expertise. In fact, UMB’s average tenure in 2021 was 9.6 years for all associates, which is two times the industry average according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics‡.
In recent years, we’ve started seeing another trend: boomerang employees. Since 2021, more than two dozen UMB associates have resigned, only to return after a short time away. A common thread we hear from those associates is that the culture at UMB is second to none.
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