Jeans at work for financial advisers? Not just yet

The days of advisers wearing a suit and tie to the office every day are long gone, but most reps still try to maintain a professional — if more casual — feel.
That means khakis, dress pants and button-down shirts are in. Jeans are still out.
“I don’t want my staff to wear jeans when clients are coming in,” said Kenneth Buzek, principal and owner of Kiplinger Investment Advisors LLC, which manages nearly $60 million in assets.
Mr. Buzek, who is a registered representative with Securities America Inc., said there have been times that clients stopped by the office when an employee was wearing blue jeans. “When that does happen, the staffer who has jeans on will close their door and won’t come out the entire time the client is there,” he said.
Gary Jurden, an adviser with Ameriprise Financial Inc. who manages more than $400 million, admits he did let one employee wear jeans on Fridays, even though the rest of the staff was prohibited from donning denim.
“We relented for her because we were afraid we were going to lose her,” he said. “We knew she was looking. We tried to find ways to golden-handcuff her to get her to stay here forever.”
Ultimately, that employee did find another job and Mr. Jurden said the staff of 15 now all dress in business attire most days. Male advisers wear ties unless they don’t have meetings. Fridays are casual, but jeans are not allowed, he said.
Mr. Jurden said he’s surprised by how casually other advisers are dressed at industry conferences. “When I’m at a conference that says business casual as many as one-third of the advisers are wearing jeans. I don’t. I’m old school.”
But even some old-school advisers are changing their ways — and their clothes. J. David Lewis, president of Resource Advisory Services, which manages more than $60 million in assets, says he started rethinking his business uniform after he noticed more and more industry professionals dressing casually. Mr. Lewis said he went to lunch with an attorney and a trust company president about 18 months ago. He wore a tie and jacket. No one else wore a tie.
“I was the one that didn’t match the others. I guess that was the beginning of my almost complete departure from my father’s custom of always wearing a suit every day,” he wrote in an e-mail.
David Evenson, managing director of Capital Resource Management LLC, which manages $110 million in assets, said jeans aren’t allowed at his office, either. But he admits that when his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, has a big hockey game, staff members wear Fighting Sioux jerseys at the office, with dress pants and turtlenecks underneath.
“We want to look like professionals,” he said.
Even Mr. Buzek, who doesn’t even like to wear jeans on weekends if he’s eating out at a restaurant where he might run into a client, allows staff to wear Ohio State outfits the day before a big football game.
The one exception: when University of Michigan clients are scheduled to come to the office.

Shop Talk is a regular column detailing how financial advisers run their businesses. The column focuses on unusual or innovative ways to attract more clients. Suggestions or tips for Shop Talk? E-mail Lisa Shidler at [email protected] or visit the Shop Talk page at InvestmentNews.com/shoptalk.