Powering the Financial World

A conversation with Tina Woodard, Senior Relationship Manager, BNY Mellon Wealth Management and John-Joseph van Haelewyn, NCGPC

NCGPC: Tell us about BNY Mellon. What are your company’s values? Have your company’s values shifted, adapted, or shone brighter in the face of COVID-19?

Tina Woodard (TW): For more than two centuries, BNY Mellon Wealth Management has provided services to high net-worth individuals, family offices, planned giving programs, endowments and foundations. Our core values include a commitment to Excellence, Integrity, Inclusion and Leadership. The pandemic has helped us to reevaluate our sense of purpose in consideration of these standards. At both an individual and corporate level, we have had to adapt and broaden how we work with our clients. However, the impact that COVID-19 has had on both our clients and our team has led us to realize just how valid our core values are and strengthened our commitment to those values.

NCGPC: How has COVID-19 affected your business operations and how have you adapted?

TW: When COVID-19 emerged, we transitioned to a primarily remote working arrangement. Nearly 90% of Wealth Management employees began working from home. Thankfully, our business continuity plans allowed us to provide the necessary technology and resources to allow this. For our essential in-office staff, we put proper protective equipment and procedures in place to ensure their daily health and safety. To help our employees remain connected to their teams and the company, we implemented several programs, including team newsletters, virtual coffee breaks and happy hours, and hosted weekly employee calls to end the week together as a team.

NCGPC: Share a success story or a creative solution that was prompted by the challenges of the pandemic. How did your team resolve the challenge to best support your charitable clients?

TW: One of the challenges many of our charitable clients faced during the pandemic was trying to navigate incoming gift applications and informational changes from donors while working remotely without access to their offices. Leveraging our infrastructure and resources, BNY Mellon’s Planned Giving team was able to assist clients by allowing donors to send information directly to us. This information was then scanned and securely sent to clients for their records. We were pleased to provide this extra service to support our clients through the pandemic and received positive feedback from our clients.

NCGPC: What do you value most about your relationship with NCGPC that made you decide to continue supporting us during a challenging and uncertain year?

TW: As a long-time supporter of NCGPC, what we value most about our relationship is the Council’s commitment to the planned giving community at large, including advisors, allied professionals, and corporate stakeholders like BNY Mellon. The Council has always worked to make sponsoring beneficial for sponsors and attendees alike, providing assurance that we have meaningful engagement for sponsored events.

NCGPC: Will COVID-19 change the way your company conducts business in the future? If so, how? What does the future of your business look like post-COVID?

TW: The pandemic has demonstrated that clients are open to interacting in a more digital way than anticipated, enabling Wealth Management to adopt an enhanced client engagement model that combines virtual and digital approaches with traditional in-person connection points. We have seen an increase in the adoption of our client portal, Wealth Online, which provides access to information at the account or relationship level, and we plan to continue expanding our online capabilities to meet client needs. We also plan to continue a robust calendar of virtual events due to an increase in interest from clients and prospects.