‘We decided not to be each other’s bosses’

Lead donors Charles Zhang and Lynn Chen-Zhang hand over a cheque after a fundraising campaign to raise money for Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Husband-and-wife team explain how they built a successful practice … and stayed married.

Don’t mix business with pleasure, the cliché goes. Husband-and-wife team Charles Zhang and Lynn Chen-Zhang are grateful they didn’t conform to this warning, having spent more than 25 years building the Zhang Financial team into one of the country’s leading practices.

Charles Zhang, founder and president, started the firm in 1991 after receiving a master’s in economics, fulfilling a long-held goal to work in financial planning and wealth management. His initial foray was with IDS, which later became American Express Financial Advisors and is now Ameriprise.

His progress was impressive. “Charles did remarkably well,” Lynn says. “In 1996, at the age of 29, he became the No. 1 advisor out of American Express, surpassing over 10,000 advisors nationwide. It was a phenomenal accomplishment, especially considering he didn’t have any established market to begin with.”

As a CPA, she began her career around the same time, with Price Waterhouse Coopers, but on the side, Lynn assisted with her husband’s clients’ tax queries and handled tax returns. As Charles’ business thrived, he pushed for Lynn to join forces with him.

“He obviously did very well in the first two years. By the end of the second year, we really weren’t relying on my small income,” she says. Yet, despite Charles’ efforts to recruit her, Lynn was wary. “I’ve seen plenty of husband-and-wife teams that fight from the meeting room to the bedroom. It can strain a marriage, and I didn’t want to see that happen.”

Instead, after having their first child, Lynn led the tax compliance department of a Fortune 500 company. But when their second child came around, she started to reconsider. “It became clear that managing two demanding schedules wasn’t fair to our kids,” she said.

“It felt like a marriage proposal. I said no, no, no, many times.” But in 1997, she finally said yes.

And as with any marriage, the couple had to define their roles. Lynn’s expertise in tax consultancy, coupled with her operational strengths, complemented Charles’ asset management skills.

“Right from the beginning, we clearly had very different skill sets,” she said. “We sat down, discussed who does what, and decided we’re not going to be each other’s bosses. So far, we’re still married. We still love each other. We just celebrated our 33rd year together.”

In the early days of the business, they used commission-based products, but they were always seeking a model that was truly free of potential conflict. To do that, they decided to break ties with Ameriprise in 2007 and adopt a fee-only structure. Cleaning up the practice to align with their new direction took time, but by 2011, they had successfully transitioned.

“The fee-only approach has not only benefited our clients but has also helped us attract and retain the right talent,” Lynn says. “We have very low turnover ratios. Part of the perks of working here, other than the fact that I pay them very well and we offer excellent benefits, is the pride they can take in their work.”