Features

Sarah Kreisman – Independent Financial Group, LLC

Defining a department with energy and ethics

During her more than two decades in the financial services sector, Sarah Kreisman has encountered her fair share of obstacles, many of them related to being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field.

She’s also learned a valuable lesson: More than anything, earning respect is about who you are and how you treat others.

“I’ve always let my performance do the talking,” says Kreisman, who now serves as chief legal counsel and vice president of compliance for Independent Financial Group, a San Diego-based broker-dealer that provides back-office services to independent registered representatives and financial advisors. “For me, working collaboratively with others has always been part of that performance piece.”

Sarah Kreisman | Chief Legal Counsel and Vice President, Compliance | Independent Financial Group, LLC

Sarah Kreisman | Chief Legal Counsel and Vice President, Compliance | Independent Financial Group, LLC

Indeed, that sense of purpose—moving forward no matter the odds—is practically part of Kreisman’s DNA. Her mother and father (a former medical researcher and educator, respectively) taught her the importance of ethics and hard work. Her paternal grandfather, Morris, immigrated to the U.S. from Hungary when he was just 16, determined to make a better life—and to support his family, that was still in Europe.

“I draw from their experiences a lot,” Kreisman reflects. “Their values translated down the line to everyone in the family—and it all starts with being kind to people. I let my performance define me, and if anyone in the company needs me, I’m there.”

Staying visible

Following a 10-year stint at E*TRADE Financial, the last six of them as a chief compliance officer, Kreisman found her way to IFG in April 2018, acting as its first in-house counsel.

As she explains, IFG’s business model has two spokes: First, it offers back-office financial services to support a network of more than 650 independent financial services professionals (things like processing checks and wire requests and reviewing and approving new accounts). Second, it provides access to an investment management platform which representatives can use to manage client money or to find services through a third-party money manager.

Sarah Kreisman | Chief Legal Counsel and Vice President, Compliance | Independent Financial Group, LLC

In addition, she and her team ensure the company stays abreast of recent regulatory changes. That includes Regulation Best Interest, a rule of the Securities and Exchange Commission which requires brokers to provide evidence they have compared the investment they’re making with other products—or to attest that they’re in line with the industry standards.

Brokers must also efficiently communicate that information to the company’s affiliated investment professionals, Kreisman says. While she can’t act as an attorney for these representatives and advisors (or their clients), she does seek to provide guidance whenever possible.

“I like to explain the ‘why’ behind how a decision was made,” Kreisman says. “It’s been an exercise in creating availability to an organization that had the majority of this effort outsourced before. I make myself available as a resource to all people here, day or night.”

Living legacy

To grasp Kreisman’s professional drive, she says one must first understand the story of her grandfather, Morris Kreisman, who grew up in the village of Munkaach, Hungary (now part of Ukraine).

In 1902, when Morris was 16, he came by himself to New York. Speaking no English, and with nothing but the clothes on his back and a small satchel, he crossed the Atlantic by ship, never to see his family again.

After spending a few years working in a hat factory, Morris started his own businesses, first as the owner of a horse-drawn carriage service; and later a fruit-stand proprietor. When he became ill and couldn’t work, he and his wife and their two boys moved to a larger apartment, just so they could rent out rooms for income.

“In listening to his experience, I gained insight about working hard to get where you want to go,” Kreisman remembers. “Nothing was ever taken for granted.”

Sarah Kreisman | Chief Legal Counsel and Vice President, Compliance | Independent Financial Group, LLC

Inspired by an early love of art, Kreisman graduated with a B.A. in art history from Emory University in 1990. Taking a year off, she returned to New York City, where she soon landed a job working at a jewelry store, earning enough pay for half of her tuition at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Tapping into her connections, Kreisman admits she fell into the field of financial services, taking her first job with the Pershing Division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation in Jersey City, New Jersey.

There, she became the company’s first female in-house attorney. Through her affiliation with Pershing, she was able to serve as the youngest member of SIFMA’s investment advisory committee.

“It was my first real opportunity to stand up for my values and work hard for things,” she reflects. “I was able to do that because I had a lifetime of support from people in my family that showered me with love, respect and clear examples.”

Portrait of power

After nearly six years at Pershing, Kreisman joined SunAmerica Securities in 2000 as a compliance manager for legal and regulatory inquiries. That quickly segued into a more senior role as assistant director of compliance and associate general counsel. Two years later, she was promoted to associate counsel, coordinating the litigation for the firm and participating as the firm representative in mediations and arbitrations.

Deciding to leave sunny Arizona behind, in 2006, she was hired as senior legal counsel by Fidelity Investments, where she participated on a team that provided guidance to management and internal clients on issues including risk, legal and compliance and business development.

“Compliance is crucial for every organization. It should be the first thing businesses should consider—not the last,” Kreisman says.

Sarah Kreisman | Chief Legal Counsel and Vice President, Compliance | Independent Financial Group, LLC

Her work in this arena helped her become the director of regulatory affairs at E*TRADE in 2007. Six years later, she was promoted to chief compliance officer for E*TRADE Clearing and then to chief compliance officer for E*TRADE Financial Corporate Services in 2013.

“Like my father, who was a dean of student affairs, I found myself in a service-oriented business,” Kreisman says. “Someone will always have some type of problem. What I learned from him is that there’s almost always a solution and that starts with being a good listener.”

These days, Kreisman says she’s driven to be a valuable resource for IFG—and to empower the people around her.

“Maya Angelou has a quote that resonates with me every time I see it.  ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’” Kreisman says. “I try to live each day with purpose and with a reflective sense of whether or not I am truly being my best self. I want to leave a legacy, an indelible mark on those I have had the pleasure to know and work with.”

View this feature in the Vanguard Spring I 2022 Edition here.

Published on: February 16, 2022

regions:

categories:

Showcase your feature on your website with a custom “As Featured in Vanguard” badge that links directly to your article!

Copy and paste this script into your page coding (ideally right before the closing tag) where you want to display our review banner.

Testimonials

I was honored to be the subject of an article. I enjoy reading Vanguard articles and seeing how other attorneys got to their positions and see their jobs. It's also interesting to see how different law firms partner with the subjects of the articles.
– Henry Marquard, in-house counsel, Stanley Consultants Inc.
It was a great honor to be featured in Vanguard Law. Working with every member of the team, from the initial interview with Erin Clark, through production with Victor Martins, writing the article with Taryn Plumb and creating the final content with Dave Gushee, was a true pleasure. Everyone was very professional, enthusiastic and supportive, and their creative approach and positive attitude clearly came through in the final product.
– Kevin C. Rakowski, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Compliance with Radian Group Inc.
The piece highlighting my company, Bob Baker Enterprises, Inc., came out fabulous. Our company is in the new and used car sales and service industry. Everyone was great to work with and extremely professional. They produced a high-quality product and have provided expert assistance and guidance post-production of the article.
– Wade Poulson, General Counsel, Bob Baker Enterprises Inc.
As promised in advance, my feature in Vanguard has increased my visibility within the profession and prompted more than a few people I have not communicated with recently to reconnect. One of the Italian law firms I have used in the past is now in the process of interviewing me for an article on their website and tweeting out the feature story. Activity and the number of people connecting with me on LinkedIn has soared, which is great. The Vanguard writers and editorial staff were great to work with—highly professional and made the effort to make the experience both fun and rewarding (they were also respectful of the time pressures and demands all lawyers face). I was very pleased with the experience and the final outcome. Needless to say, I have been very pleased. All in all working with Vanguard has been a very positive experience which generated good publicity for both Shawcor and myself. My sincere thanks.
– Tim Hutzul, General Counsel, ShawCor Ltd.

LATEST EDITION

Spring III 2023

READ NOW

GET VANGUARD IN YOUR INBOX.

  • * We’ll never share your email or info with anyone.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.