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Who is your true sweetie?
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February 13, 1998: 6:13 p.m. ET
The broker-client bond can outlast marriage, war and market turmoil
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Who makes your heart race?
Who is the one person in the world you've never lied to? Not even once?
Who protects you from kooks and flimflam artists?
It's not your special valentine, sweetheart.
As people shower their loved ones with roses and chocolates this weekend, let us talk for just a moment about another special person in your life: your stock broker.
"I've had the same broker for more than 30 years, and I think he's one of the best in the world," said Holmes Brown, 83, a retired corporate communications specialist from Charlottesville, Va. "We understand each other so well that a quick talk on the phone is all we need. "
After all, what's really important to us in life? Yeah, sure, there's love, health and happiness. Blah, blah, blah. But what about financial stability? What about money?
"Any relationship in which you're talking about money, like a broker/client relationship, is a powerful, emotionally-charged thing," said Dr. Richard Geist, a Harvard University instructor who has studied the link between psychology and investing. "Money is important because there are so many important connotations to it: self-esteem, security, self-confidence, power."
But Geist said making money isn't the only variable. Clients stick with brokers because of trust, reliability and honesty, he said.
"These relationships can last for years if there's a sense of empathy on the broker's part," Geist said. "Clients leave a broker because of interaction that makes them feel terrible."
Craig Langweiler, senior vice president at brokerage firm Gruntal & Co. in Newtown, Pa., has spent years cultivating friendships with clients.
Langweiler met one customer 18 years ago at a softball game. One trade led to another. The man, a perfectionist, would straighten Langweiler's desk when he visited. He'd want to know his account to the penny. Now, they talk every day -- sometimes more than once.
"Hi, it's Craig. Call me," is all Langweiler says when he leaves a message.
In another case, Langweiler met a client at the car wash while he was reading "Baron's." The man asked Langweiler for a stock quote. Today, the man has a $2 million account with Langweiler.
"When you're a broker, you know things that wives and husbands don't know," Langweiler said.
In fact, Langweiler discovered the depths of that loyalty last year on the way to a Philadelphia Flyers game with a client. The man said Langweiler was the first speed-dial number on the car phone. His wife was No. 2.
"Another guy had a voice-activated car phone in his Mercedes, so all he had to do was say, 'Call Craig,' to get me on the phone," Langweiler said.
Irwin Metzger, vice president of Merrill Lynch in New York, seemed surprised when he realized 30 years had passed since he became Holmes Brown's broker. Brown was living in the city at the time and was planning for retirement.
"With Mr. Brown, it was a building process, getting to know him," Metzger said.
Brown said he was especially impressed that Metzger devoted as much time to him as he did to his wealthier clients.
"I'd ask him about an investment and he'd give all sides of it: what was good about it, what was bad, and what would be a better alternative," Brown said.
Brown introduced Metzger to his wife, Mary Ellen, and the two got along handsomely.
Time passed: seven presidents, the first moon walk, the Vietnam war, Watergate.
"Irwin had real empathy, so I felt very comfortable with him," Brown said. "He's a splendid person."
Metzger, who helped Brown's portfolio grow to $1 million, acknowledges his job is much more than recommending stocks and bonds.
"The important thing is to be involved with a client," Metzger said. "There's a need to get a handle on what the client wants to do with his life, what his needs are, and what we can offer him."
-- By staff writer Martine Costello
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