Dr. Jim Grubman has provided services to individuals, couples, and families of wealth for nearly 20 years. He has worked with clients at many levels of affluence up to and including the Forbes 400 level. He often is consulted in situations of complexity where an understanding of psychology, law, finance, medicine and business all come into play to varying degrees. He draws on his experience as a psychologist, neuropsychologist and family business consultant with specialty interests in trusts and estate law, family business, family systems, and wealth psychology.
In addition to his extensive work with client families, Jim brings his knowledge of the client's perspective to his work with family offices, wealth management firms, attorneys, and other advisors. He educates advisors about what clients really want from a trustworthy, caring and transparent advisory relationship. He also trains advisors about the value of multidisciplinary teams and how integrated services can benefit clients more than traditional methods of making referrals to experts. He coaches and trains advisors on the core competencies needed in client relationships.
Jim's work in wealth consulting and training has been featured in Business Week, CNBC, New York Times, Boston Globe, Smartmoney.com, Conde Nast's Portfolio.com, Private Asset Management, and Private Wealth magazine among other publications. He has collaborated or consulted with single and multi-family offices, large financial firms, and Top 100 independent wealth management advisory firms recognized by Barron's, Worth Magazine and Bloomberg Wealth Manager. He is a sought-after speaker at family-office and wealth management conferences throughout the US and Canada for his thought-leadership in the areas of wealth, psychology, estate planning, and wealth management. He has publications in multiple journals and publications including the Journal of Wealth Management, Journal of Financial Planning, Private Wealth Magazine, Wealth Manager, Financial Advisor, and The FFI Practitioner.He has spoken at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning of the University of Miami School of Law, the Institute for Private Investors, the Campden Conferences, the Financial Planning Association, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and many other organizations and conferences.
Activities in Advisor Training and Education
As a faculty member of the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University from 2004 through 2008, Jim developed and taught the first graduate-level-only course in the United States about the psychological aspects of financial planning and advising. He continues to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Department of Law, Taxation, and Financial Planning at Bentley. His pioneering work in advisor education has helped others develop similar courses elsewhere in the country. He provides ongoing advisor education and training resources for the online educational services of State Street Global Advisors and serves on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Financial Therapy of the Financial Therapy Association. He is a faculty member for the Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) program of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) in conjunction with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He helped design the Family Dynamics and Legacy Planning section and serves as a Subject Matter Expert in that area.
Professional Affiliations
Jim is a member of the Family Firm Institute, the premier organization for multidisciplinary consulting to family enterprises and families of wealth. He is listed in the Consultants and Speakers Directory and is active at both the national level and the New England chapter based in Boston. He also is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council and is one of only two US psychologists who are members of the internationally-based Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is a longstanding member of the American Psychological Association, including its Division of Family Therapy. As a former member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology he maintains a specialty interest in consulting to families of wealth with ADHD and other learning and cognitive disorders.
Credentials
Jim has achieved the Certificate in Family Business Advising by the Family Firm Institute. He has a master's degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Vermont. He is a licensed psychologist in Massachusetts and has been listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (1985 – 2006).
