As wildfires blazed through Angeles National Forest last week, advisers who had weathered other such natural disasters kept their data safe and found ways to connect with their clients.
“One client has been evacuated, and we have been in contact through Facebook,” said Karen Malkoff-Hatton, president and founder of Financial Security Solutions Corp., referring to the social-networking website. Her firm is located 20 miles from the fires in Tarzana, Calif.
“We haven't been in touch today,” Ms. Malkoff-Hatton said last Tuesday, “but my understanding is that they can go back [to their homes] today unless there are flare-ups. I have friends who have also been evacuated.”
Last week, two firefighters lost their lives and 21 firefighters were injured battling fires that began Aug. 26 in Los Angeles County, consuming more than 148,258 acres of land, destroying 64 houses and 3 commercial buildings and resulting in the evacuation of 10,000 homes, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. As of Sept. 4, the fire was 42% contained, there were no mandatory evacuations and no homes were threatened.
“It is an arson fire,” said Matt Levesque, spokesman for the LA County Fire Department. “It's now a homicide investigation because of the two firefighters who were killed.”
The fire has an estimated cost to the state of $28.5 million.
Having dealt with past wildfires, both Ms. Malkoff-Hatton's home and office were prepared, she said.
“I think if you live in a mountainous area or a dry valley — and most of us do — you're prepared. I would say that the only thing most of us and our clients have done differently between this fire and the San Diego fire [of 2007] is that we all make sure we have greater firebreaks around our homes than we ever had before. When you look at people's homes up in the hillsides, there isn't a lot of brush nearby.”
Ms. Malkoff-Hatton keeps a backup of all her client data away from her office. “If there should ever be a problem, we can retrieve information from anywhere,” she said.
“I called clients and had clients call me,” said Karl Johnson, chief executive of Global Wealth Capital Management of La Canada Flint-ridge, Calif., who lives and works a quarter of a mile away from the fires.
“But it was hard to get in touch with some people. So I ended up sending e-mails.”
With a history of wildfires in the state, many advisers are prepared to work offsite at short notice.
Mr. Johnson closed his office Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 due to the op-pressive smoke hovering in the city.
“My family and I left the area for a few days because the smoke was so dense,” he said. “My systems are set up so that I can work from anywhere.”
Although close to the fire lines, advisers in La Canada said a lack of wind midweek saved many homes and the city from damage.
“The fires came down pretty low, but we didn't have any wind,” said James Phillips, president of Pacific Investment Advisory Inc. of La Canada, Calif., which has $25 million in assets under management.
“That really saved the homes in the city,” he added
Westmount Asset Management Inc. in Los Angeles remained open.
While the firm, which manages $1 billion in assets, was 15 miles from the fire, Mr. Berliner could see a giant plume of smoke and ashes were falling on his car.
“The smoke of course is not pleasant,” said Stephen Ascher, founder of Ascher Decision Services Inc., a broker-dealer in Pasadena, Calif. “Otherwise, there's been no effect” on his business, he said.
Others begged to differ.
“It's been like living in an ashtray,” said one broker at a wirehouse in Pasadena, who asked not to be identified by name or firm.
“The air quality is horrible,” the broker said. “After five days of this crap, we're getting tired of it.”
On the plus side, branch offices of wirehouses and their clients seemed to have escaped unscathed.
The
Charles Schwab Corp. re-ported that its employees and their homes in areas near the fires in Glendale and Pasadena were safe at press time, and the firm was continuing to monitor air quality in the area.
None of
Fidelity Investments' branches or sales offices were near the fire, said spokesman Stephen Austin, but the firm is making itself available to clients who need help.
Likewise, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is “monitoring the tracking status of the fires from our Los Angeles office, and as events warrant, we will be issuing guidance,” spokeswoman Nancy Condon said.
“We have been checking in with [local chapters] to see if they know of anyone who needs anything or if there is anything we can do to help,” said Ellen Turf, CEO of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. “We certainly support other groups who have initiatives or programs to help victims of the fires.”
The Financial Planning Association is working with chapters to see if their members need any support or assistance from us, spokeswoman Samantha Chernak wrote in an e-mail.
Compared with recent wildfires in California, this event does not yet have the same insurance magnitude, said Sam Sorich, president of the Sacramento-based Association of California Insurance Companies.
The 2003 wildfires in Southern California destroyed 3,641 homes and resulted in $2.2 billion in insured losses, he said. The 2007 wildfires destroyed 2,180 homes and resulted in $2.3 billion in insured losses, and last year's wildfires destroyed 859 homes and resulted in $721 million insured losses.
“So this current event, although it has covered a huge area and has burned for more than a week, has not yet resulted in a significant insured loss,” Mr. Sorich said. “Of course, this is a dynamic situation, and increased losses may occur.”
Mobile claims units have been dispatched to evacuation centers to meet with homeowners, he said.
E-mail Sue Asci at [email protected].
Jed Horowitz, Dan Jamieson, Darla Mercado and Charles Paikert contributed to this report.
