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Heritage Wealth Advisors Dee Ann Remo
Dee Ann Remo’s appetite for professional change began when she left her secure, successful, partner-level role at KPMG and set about creating an entrepreneurial business to provide investment and tax advice, financial planning, and estate planning.
“It’s atypical for a firm in our industry to offer all three disciplines,” she says. “Because it’s harder. It’s more labor-intensive and complex. We do it because it drives better outcomes for our clients.”
Her bias for change is in full effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she leads Heritage Wealth Advisors in navigating the financial crisis for clients, as well as exploring new ways to motivate and engage her remote-working team.
She describes Heritage’s pre-COVID downtown headquarters as an “office ballet” of meetings, including conversations where every client is treated as a client of the entire firm. The firm’s morning collaboration sessions are still going on virtually, but Remo is restless to explore and reset every form of communication in the firm to the new normal — from business development to teammate learning. “I believe this event will permanently change the way we do business,” she says. “So it demands something different of leaders.”
The crisis also demands more of philanthropy. “We plan for our clients over the long term — multiple generations,” Remo says. “We have the privilege of making connections for our philanthropy-minded clients.” In February, Remo hired Elaine Summerfield, who spent more than a decade at the Community Foundation, for a new position, as director of foundations and endowments. “Our timing with Elaine was so fortunate,” Remo says. “Now more than ever, we need to help our families be effective at the art of building the community.”
