Meet Patrice Sinclair
One of the best parts of my job is that I get to meet all sorts of great people throughout the community here in Rochester. I love sharing the stories of my fellow small business owners — there’s so much we can learn from one another.
Today’s post is all about my friend Patrice Sinclair. She runs the Sinclair Wealth Management Group of Raymond James in Auburn Hills. She and her amazing colleagues Drew and Priscilla are so dedicated to their clients that it was tough to pull them away from phones during our photoshoot.
Scott Lawrence: Tell me about a time when you saved a client from making a huge mistake.
Patrice Sinclair: My mind goes back to a couple of bear market periods but specifically to the most recent financial “meltdown” of Oct. 2007-March 2009. I was in communication with my clients constantly during that time period, more to hold their hands and keep them from crawling out on the ledge than anything. I recall one specific conversation where we had been in this midst of declining markets and subsequent declines of account values when a very concerned retired client said to me, “Patrice, if you tell me to hold on and not sell, I won’t sell.” I responded, “Selling now is the worst thing you can do. Hold tight and breathe. You will get through this.” That’s exactly what he did. He held on, didn’t react and recovered his losses in a very short time frame. Times like that solidify client relationships and this client and I have worked together for over 25 years now.
SL: What do you do when you’re not talking people off ledges?
Patrice: We are a full-service financial planning team that helps individuals and families simplify their financial plan. That might include assisting with your 401k choices; planning for college funding; protecting your heirs/estate in case of an unforeseen event; reviewing your estate plan; investment portfolio reviews; or assisting you in the decision to buy or lease a car, airplane or medical equipment. Whatever your need is, we’re your financial coaches that help to guide you in the direction that makes sense for you.
SL: What’s unique about how you do what you do?
Patrice: Our unique quality is experience and access. We have combined experience of over 45 years. We’ve seen how exuberant markets can blow up and we’ve seen how various financial crashes recover. We’re conservative but goal-oriented. There’s always a reason people will choose to NOT invest, but we help them to see that it’s important to block out the noise of our day to day lives and focus on their objectives. We seek to provide regular and consistent education to our clients so they can make informed decisions, and we seek to always be available for their questions and/or concerns. We feel it’s an honor to be chosen by our clients and we never take it for granted. That said, we have many clients that have continued to seek our counsel for over 25 years.
SL: What’s one thing most people don’t know about your industry but should?
Patrice: We educate our clients on fees that aren’t always transparent in our industry. We understand that finance isn’t the most simple or comfortable topic in many of our clients’ lives so we seek to explain everything in a way that they can comprehend.