For the first time in Villere & Co.'s 99-year history, advisers will not be required to wear suits to the office Friday. Instead, reps and other workers from the New Orleans firm will don Saints jerseys in support of their hometown team's Super Bowl appearance Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
St. Denis “Sandy” Villere III, a partner and investment adviser for the firm, which manages $1.1 billion in assets, said his firm has always had a strict suit-and-tie policy since it was founded in 1911. But the Saints fever is contagious (it is their first-ever Super Bowl), so he decided to loosen up for one day.
“I've never seen anything like it. It's exciting,” he said. “People are talking about the Saints all over the office, which is mind-boggling because no one even cares about sports at all in my office.”
Mr. Villere, who went to high school in New Orleans with Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning — and actually played on the school football team with him — said he'll never be anything but a loyal Saints fan, despite his ties to one of the royal families of the National Football League.
Across town, Clifford Favrot, a certified financial planner with Delta Financial Advisors Inc., also knows members of the Manning family, but said his staff is rooting hard for the Saints as well. In fact, he said several times this week advisers and staffers have made a habit of shouting “Who dat?” — the chant made famous by Saints fans — in the office.
“We're having fun,” he said. “We're all fired up about it.”
Some staff members have been wearing Saints attire this week and Mr. Favrot anticipates that a New Orleans win on Sunday will mean that staffers will show up a little late Monday — or maybe not at all. But he said at least one partner will be there to open the doors. And Mr. Favrot says he'll also flexible about letting employees attend a parade that will be held on Tuesday for the Saints if they're crwoned Super Bowl champions. Mr. Favrot's firm manages $250 million.
Mr. Villere and Mr. Favrot said they believe that this Super Bowl is extra-special to New Orleans because it's the first time the team has gone to the Super Bowl.
“I keep wondering, ‘is this what is going on in Indianapolis right now?,” Mr. Villere said. “And I get the sense that it's not.”
In fact, Sal Zambito, a senior vice president of business consulting for
LPL Financial, talks to advisers all over the country and tends to think advisers in New Orleans are more excited than their peers in Indianapolis.
He said one advisory firm in New Orleans is giving employees the day off Monday if the Saints win.
“We've heard in Indiana they're having a lot of workplace fun like wearing jerseys to work, but it doesn't seem as big of a deal as in New Orleans.”
This may be the second time the Colts are in the Super Bowl, but Michael Tavel — an adviser with Dunlap Tavel Wealth Management in Fishers, Ind., a town just outside of Indianapolis — said there's a huge amount of enthusiasm.
Every day this week, Mr. Tavel has worn his Indianapolis Colts hat with his dress pants, suit jacket and tie.
He's even met with prospective clients, and he said they, too, were all excited about the Colts. His female staff members have been wearing Colts jewelry at the firm, which manages nearly $50 million in assets.
“We're pretty conservative and straight-laced with jackets and ties every day,” he said. “First impressions are lasting. Now, my prospective clients will think of me wearing a Colts hat.”
The city of Indianapolis is pumped up about the Super Bowl, said Doug Prince, an adviser with
Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. His office manages about $8 billion. The office's building has a giant “Go Colts” sign on top of it, and the building across the street has a Colts flag.
His office has celebrated the Colts all week with a different activity each day. One day, there was a giant jar of blue & white M&Ms and the staff member who came closest to guessing the amount won them all.
Staff members have been wearing Colts attire all week. Anyone who wore a jersey paid $5, which is donated to Haiti relief efforts, he said. Friday is “blue-and-white day,” he said.
“I love looking out at the parking lots and I can see a number of cars that have the blue flags on the windows,” he said.
