In the mind of most Midwestern residents, Wells Fargo is primarily a West Coast bank headquartered in San Francisco. What isn’t always known is that Wells Fargo has been steadily building a book of business in the Midwest and has developed a terrific reputation for service and professional wealth management expertise.

Senior Vice President and Wealth Advisor Colleen McCaffery was one of six people to start the Midwest office of Wells Fargo Wealth Management in Chicago 10 years ago. The office now has more than 130 team members and has been ranked No. 1 out of 42 markets nationwide for Wells Fargo over the last 5 years.

Now with the opening of their first suburban office in Northbrook, Colleen is excited to help lead the expansion of the Wells Fargo Private Bank to the Northern suburbs.

“Chicago is a priority ‘high growth’ market for the Wells Fargo Private Banking footprint,” says McCaffery. “Our plan from day one was to build out a strong base of operation at our downtown location and then expand. We have worked extremely hard to establish our presence in the Chicago market, hired the right people and are now ready to expand and introduce to new clients in the Northern Suburbs the exceptional personalized service and professional wealth management expertise offered by Wells Fargo.”

With more than 20 years of experience advising clients and families and 16 years with Wells Fargo, McCaffery offers a family office approach integrating the Wells Fargo Private Bank resources. For McCaffery, being a Wealth Management professional is much more than a simple investment of stocks and bonds. It requires a deep understanding of a client’s family complexities, their feelings and beliefs about money, their spending behaviors, family financial history and more. Proactively organizing all of the resources of one of the largest financial institutions and coordinating a team of advisors around the client is one of her key roles.

“Building a connection with clients is a core value I try to bring to every relationship. It is the key to what she calls the ‘discovery process,’ and is the best way I have found to understand what is important to a client’s needs, concerns, and aspirations.”

Born and raised in Chicago and a full-time working mother of three daughters, McCaffery relies on the foundations of honesty and openness.

“I want to help people identify and articulate what is most important to them,” she says. “Being able to connect on a deeper level, sitting in the backyard, understanding the challenges and concerns of being a parent, having that Midwest connection, just talking with people and families and knowing what matters to clients is what’s most important, especially when starting a nancial relationship.”

Education is the second core value of her practice. “With Wealth comes opportunity and responsibility,” Mccaffery says. “Our clients are successful people who have created their own wealth and they come to us for capital preservation and thoughtful solutions on how to protect their assets and pass on that wealth, whether that is to the next generation or philanthropy. The most effective and impactful advice happens when you pull all of your advisors together, tax, legal, insurance and collaborate on behalf of the client.”

Business owners, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, individuals all need this coordination to make smart decisions.

Her goal is to help clients simplify their lives by being their single point of contact to a wider network. She is ultimately a highly specialized and professional financial concierge for all the things clients might need as their lives evolve. She maximizes the resources available at Wells Fargo and ensures a full balance sheet approach.

The focus on a relationship based business, on thoughtful understanding of what matters to someone and education is part of what has landed McCaffery numerous accolades. She has consistently been ranked as one of the top wealth advisors in the nation by respected industry publications including Barron’s and Worth Magazine. Though she’s housed in Northbrook, she runs a national practice and will go wherever her clients need her.

This approach, of really connecting with clients and serving all their needs in one place, isn’t just part of McCaffery’s philosophy, but also Wells Fargo’s.

“Our goal as an institution is to provide organization, accountability, objectivity, and education. We take a consultative approach to wealth management and always come back to what’s important to someone, what makes life easier for them, and we overlay that with financial knowledge,” McCaffery says.

To enter the Wells Fargo Private Bank clients need $1 million in balances, or $5 million for a wealth advisor and team. The Northbrook office is officially open for business and staffed with a dynamic group of partners.

“We’re very excited about putting in more time with our clients here and broadening our footprint on the North Shore,” McCaffery says.

Colleen McCaffery, Senior Vice President and Wealth Advisor for Wells Fargo Private Bank is located at 400 Skokie Boulevard, Suite 510 in Northbrook, 224-306-5111, [email protected].