Heart, hustle and holistic planning

Long before she was advising wealthy clients, Lisa Detanna was clocking in at her grandfather’s shop. Discover how her early lessons in financial literacy shaped a standout career in wealth management.

Lisa Detanna learned at an early age that pitching in to keep the family running was everyone’s responsibility. At age five, she was punching the clock at her grandfather’s two Anaheim, California, businesses. As a college student, she was helping to raise her younger sister.

“I didn’t grow up wealthy,” she said, “but I had a charmed life.”

These days, Lisa is a well-recognized name at Raymond James, but those early experiences continue to inform her practice and her approach to financial management.

As a leading financial advisor in Beverly Hills, California, Lisa and her 22-person team offer their clients – from sophisticated ultra-high-net-worth clients to the millionaire next door – seasoned guidance and a comprehensive list of services to address every aspect of their financial lives.

“I try to make sure that if I’m not communicating as a specialist in a particular area, someone else on the team is,” she said.

On the job training

Lisa started her career at Sears, Robuck & Co., during the period the retailer owned multiple financial services firms. It was the early ’90s, and clients often had multiple advisors – one for investments, one for estate planning, one for insurance and one for lending – which gave her a front-row seat to understanding the complexities of wealth.

While going to school at night for her MBA, she landed a role at a prominent bond house in Beverly Hills. It was there she got her “baptism by fire,” soaking up everything she could watching seasoned advisors work with legendary business figures who, despite their success, often neglected their personal finances.

“They were brilliant, but they weren’t looking under the hood,” Lisa said. “That’s when I realized what I loved most – helping people simplify their financial lives.”

During the years that followed, she expanded her knowledge about small-cap stocks, emerging markets and alternatives. She built her own client base, earned a financial planning degree, and eventually joined a mainstream firm where she stayed for 16 years.

“Over that time, I saw the firm drift to being very corporate-centric. I felt they were just focusing on huge, publicly traded companies and big investment banking transactions,” Lisa said. Meanwhile, she was more interested in helping business owners grow their business and personal wealth and build a legacy that extended to future generations and the charities they held dear.

“It was time for me to find a firm that was client-centric.”

Finding a home at Raymond James

After researching nearly a dozen firms, Lisa transitioned her practice to Raymond James in 2011, arriving just in time for the “Evening with the Boss” event celebrating the firm’s 100th consecutive quarter of positive earnings. At 5 p.m. on a Friday, she said, there were over 1,000 associates from all over the firm – assistants, advisors and executives – having a family-style dinner.

“It was astonishing to me,” she said. “This was the epitome of open architecture, conflict-free advice, comprehensive financial services and a team that valued, appreciated and admired each other.”

She knew she’d landed in the right place – a place that put the client and their holistic financial planning needs first.

Looking back, she said joining Raymond James ranks among the defining moments of her career. “You have to have the courage to find a place you identify with and where you feel you belong,” she said. “Everyone here is about helping and taking care of the client and for me, that’s like working at Disneyland.”

The power of teamwork

Today, Lisa leads the Global Wealth Solutions Group, an all-star team offering a vast array of services to individual and institutional clients. She’s also a founding partner of two more practice groups – DH Consulting and Detanna Global Wealth Team of Raymond James – which has enabled her to cast a wide net and serve a broad range of client needs.

“It’s about delineating the practice to be results-driven for each of the groups you want to take on,” she said. “It’s about knowing what you do well and letting others shine where you don’t. That’s what makes a great team, because people are doing what they love.”

Lisa said she enjoys doing the planning and investment analysis, digging in deep with individual clients to see what makes them tick. But when it comes to managing big 401(k) plans or working with foundations and endowments – even managing the team – she’s quick to praise the expertise of her peers, some of whom she’s been working with for decades.

“Allow people to help you,” she said. “That’s what this firm is all about.”

Teaching the next generation

More than 30 years in, Lisa is proud of helping her clients achieve dreams they once thought impossible – like buying vacation homes, funding college and retiring with confidence – and is committed to preparing the next generation to be responsible stewards of wealth.

“It’s been exciting not only to watch my career grow, but also to watch my clients build their wealth and get their family involved. I’ve had clients ask, ‘Hey, will you help my 15-year-old?’ because they have questions and I don’t know how to talk to them about finances.”

Lisa’s passion for teaching financial literacy extends beyond her practice. She co-authored a children’s book, “Treasures in the Winter Vault,” that teaches young readers about the value of saving and financial prudence. She also launched a youth education program called Money Smarts, which uses music, mentorship and hands-on learning to engage kids on financial topics, and her summer internship program has reached hundreds of students.

“It’s been so fulfilling for me and the team,” she said, “because it’s not just learning about money and investing – it’s how to write a resume, how to interview for a job, and how to decide what do you want to do with your life.”

She shared the story of a student whose grandmother offered to match his savings five to one. “After working all summer, he came in and said, ‘I have a check for $3,000. I want to open an account – and grandma owes me more than ten grand.’ It’s really fun to see the lightbulbs going off.”

Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the above organizations.