Paul and Mindee Blanco vividly recall arriving in Connecticut to 32 years ago when he was appointed to turn around the Barnum Financial Group, at the time a foundering company with fewer than a dozen advisors and an atmosphere of defeat.
The transition from Brooklyn to southwestern Connecticut over next two years changed the course of the business as well as their lives.
Barnum, now a highly successful business with more than 400 employees, was the second highest-rated finisher in The Courant’s Top Workplaces medium-sized employer category this year, and has been listed for the past three years.
The Blancos see it as the logical progression of decades invested in building a company culture that is about far more than quarterly financial figures.
“The first day Paul came here, I ordered sandwich platters. The looks on the people’s faces were like ‘You bought us lunch, nobody ever buys us lunch,’ ” Mindee Blanco recalled. “We had a Christmas party that year, people asked ‘What do we have to pay?’ And we said ‘Nothing, and bring your significant other.’
“It was about creating a culture, a culture that we wanted to be part of,” she said.
Mindee and Paul Blanco of Barnum Financial Group. (Courtesy of Barnum Financial Group)
Over the years, Barnum has posted powerful financial results while steadily emphasizing teamwork and a congenial atmopshere. It has reached the level of $32 billion of assets under management while boasting an uncommonly loyal base of advisors and staff.
“Barnum is one of the number one firms in the entire industry to work for if you are a financial advisor. We have extremely high retention rates on both the advisor side and on our infrastructure side,” Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Hiza said in a company video. “We as a firm focus a lot of time and attention on building and strengthening our culture.”
Paul Blanco said he was influenced by the closeknit atmosphere of the Brooklyn neighborhood he grew up in along with the tight friendships on many sports teams he played on during his youth.
“My background was always as an athlete. When you had your best teams, you we like brothers, you were like families to each other,” he said. “Growing up in Brooklyn, our doors were always open and we lived in neighborhoods where everyone just came in and you really had each others’ back like a family did.”
When Paul Blanco moved to Connecticut in 1993 as chief executive officer and Mindee, then his fiancee, followed and later became chief operating officer, they suddenly didn’t have that.
“When we got here, not knowing a soul, our number one goal was that this was going to become our family,” he said. “Now when you look around Barnum and see how many family members, sons or daughters, brothers or sisters work here, it’s incredible. We’ve probably had 30 marriages start here with people who met at Barnum.”
“It’s our family values,” Mindee Blanco said. “Paul grew up in a family that cared about people, that big Italian family of loving and feeding and taking care of people. We never wanted to sacrifice our people here just because we wanted something — it wasn’t in our DNA.”
The company is proud of employing more staff than the industry benchmarks rather than getting by with less.
“Our model today is very different than our peers in the industry. We have about 145 people here to support our advisors, that’s probably 50 percent more than any other firm our size would have,” Paul Blanco said. “We’ve invested heavily in our support people so our advicors can do what they do really well.”
The company serves 250,000 clients and maintains offices throughout Connecticut and in New York and New Jersey, along with a West Coast operation. The original team of nine advisors has grown to about 300. Paul Blanco said Barnum’s culture was important to that growth.
“If you look at our purpose today, it’s to postively impact the lives of our clients, our associates and our advisors. Where that comes from is when I got in the business, and I was 23 and helping people figure out their need for life insurance and how to protect their famliy,” he said.
“You learn really quick how honorable this role is and how important it is. After I’d meet with people, I’d leave and say ‘Wow, I just changed their lives — if something happens to these people or if they live really long, I’ve made them better than they were before I got there.’ If someone gets to 75 and if we do the right plan for them, they won’t outlive their money.”
Nineteen years ago, the Blancos founded the Barnum Foundation for Life, a non-profit that benefits community organizations, particularly for the disadvantaged.
One of its most successful endeavors has been Bikes for Kids, which gives bicycles to poor children. Barnum employees prepare the bikes and help arrange the group outing to a sports event where youngsters receive the bikes as a surprise.
“It makes an impact on kids and at the same time makes an impact on our employees,” Paul Blanco said in a video about the annual campaign.
Barnum hosts a series of after-work gatherings and activities to keep staff connected, and the Blancos host companywide holiday parties at their home.
“Our kids grew up with the kids here,” Mindee Blanco said. “That’s what this is about. Family is just so important.”
