Carol Schleif | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Bio

Carol Schleif is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer with BMO Family Office, an integrated wealth management provider that serves ultra-affluent individuals, families and family offices across their tax, estate, investment, philanthropic, risk and family capital needs.

She is an experienced investment leader with 40 years in the industry. Carol has worked extensively with ultra-affluent families in the management and oversight of their investments and crafting / implementation of their financial legacies.

Carol has a deep understanding of the markets, investor behavior, portfolio management across asset classes, and long-term industry trends. She is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, with frequent contributions on Bloomberg TV, Radio, print as well as Reuters, WSJ and other national and regional media.

Carol is a passionate mentor, coach, leader and active sponsor with a special talent for advocating for women of and in wealth.

Prior to joining BMO Family Office, Carol served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer with Abbot Downing, Wells Fargo's UHNW unit where she managed portfolios and teams for nearly 30 years. In this role, she oversaw several key initiatives at the firm and drove product and content development. She led the Private Wealth Management Investment Strategy work stream. She also launched and led mentoring and training programs to enhance career development for asset management employees. She was previously a Partner and Investment Principal with Lowry Hill, a Wells Fargo business.

Carol serves on the joint board of trustees for the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University where she chairs the investment committee. She also serves on the University of Minnesota Discovery Capital Advisory Board and the Hamline University Finance Curriculum Advisory Committee. Carol is on the board of the CFA Society of Minnesota where she co-chairs Challenging Perceptions and Chairs Career Development committees.

Carol earned her MBA from Hamline University in 2020. She earned undergraduate degrees in both business administration and equestrian science from William Woods College, where she graduated summa cum laude. She has also earned the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations.

Current position (1)

Deputy Chief Investment Officer

BMO Family Office

Achievements (2)

CFA

Monthly Personal Finance Column and a variety of special features in Twin Cities Business Monthly, an award winning regional publication

Columnist 1998-present

Degrees (3)

BA / Double Major / Business and Equestrian Science

William Woods College

1980 to 1983

MBA

Hamline University

2018 to 2020

FSA

SASB

2019

Presentations

Presentations (11)

Integrating ESG / Impact Into Your Family's Investment Program

Impact investing has exploded in popularity, though in practice it can mean something very different to each person trying to deploy it. This session will discuss the emotional and practical aspects of defining, constructing and measuring the success of an ESG / Impact program.

Behavioral Finance and the High Net Worth Investor

While traditional economic and portfolio management theory implies humans make decisions only after a rational evaluation of risk and return - our primitive brain wiring is simply not evolved enough yet to fulfill that grand vision. More importantly, hard driving execs and entrepreneurs may have an even tougher time. This talk outlines the realities of our innate tendencies and what can be done to mitigate or harness them to our advantage.

Women and Wealth - External

We all know that women live longer, but the stats on the quantity of money, investment and purchasing decisions they control are overwhelming as well. Yet they are woefully underserved by a male-dominated investment industry. Generalizing about how to serve them as a different category can come off as demeaning at best - and insulting at worst - especially if inelegantly handled. This session, as told by a woman who's served the UHNW market for the better part of 30 years, will discuss what women are looking for in their investment management relationships and how to build a team that works.

Women and Wealth - Internal

Career advice on a variety of "softer skills" necessary for women in the investment management business. Finding your unique voice; communicating your value add; confidence in a male dominated environment; how to stop overthinking and obsessing about every decision; why "head down and work really hard" isn't a recipe for advancement; and a host of other lessons gleaned from 35 years of personal experience on both the sell and the buy side.

Bringing Up Baby - Raising Wise and Noble Children in an Affuent Household

Generation 1 often struggles for decades to build a family business from the ground up, taking risk to generate the ultimate reward of a successful business. Generation 2 - and those that come after - face unique challenges of their own based on the success of that business, as they struggle to find meaning, friendship, and their own purpose in life without having to take the financial risks their parents often did. This presentation can center around a variety of topics related to rising gen issues, portfolio construction and financial management skills

Risk Management and Portfolio Construction in a Volatile, Low Return World

Inflammatory geopolitical rhetoric has investor psyches frayed even as markets hit new highs. How should one construct and/or adapt portfolio allocation to protect in such an uncertain atmosphere? What steps can be taken to mitigate or manage the market and financial plan risk individual investors and families face? Domestic or global? Active or Passive? Public, private or alternative? Learn where to go and how to balance given the perpetually shifting kaleidoscope and historically low yields

You've Had the Pay Day - Now What?

Liquidity events such as business sale, IPO or even a C-Suite retirement, can lead to a host of unanticipated emotional and psychological consequences - in addition to all the new investment, tax, and estate issues that come up. Many initially think the portfolio construction will be the hard part, only to find the "soft stuff" (estate planning; tax planning; How much do I need to live on? Where will we live? Do we want a new vacation place? What do I do with my days? Do the kids need prenups?) proves more complicated to work through. This session presentation can cover a number of different angles from how to prepare you / your spouse for the big day, as well as how to provide for family education and governance in a new stewardship environment

How to Pick a Money Manager

Just because you can read about how to perform an appendectomy, doesn't mean you should conduct your own. For some reason, many individuals believe it should be easy to manage their own portfolios - and the popular media is rife with information that would seem to support this view. Yet information is not equivalent to wisdom. Yet the industry is rife with less than skilled purveyors too. How do you structure a search for a money manager? What questions should you ask and what answers should you be seeking in order to find someone that will be the right long term fit for your personality?

Current Events - implications for markets and portfolio construction

Always ready to give insights on current events, both domestic and global and their implications for portfolio construction and management.

Serving the UHNW Investor - Common Sense Portfolio Construction in a Volatile World

UHNW investors often have portfolios that are institutional in size, though highly taxable in nature. This leads to the need for a different sort or portfolio construction and risk management process.

Best Laid Plans

How behavioral finance and 24/7 markets conspire to make planning, portfolio allocation and investment even more difficult than it should be

Past talks (6)

Geopolitics' influence on portfolio construction and risk management

IPI - Fall Forum

New York City

2017

Risk - Friend or Foe?

Abbot Downing Family Forum

New York City

2017

Integraing ESG and Impact into your Family's Investment Program

IPI Fall Forum - Part II

Dallas

2017

Top 5 Myths Regarding Women and Wealth

Wells Women's Event

Philedelphia

2017

Convergence - technological innovation

TIger 21

Washington DC, Miami, New York City (2X), etc

2015

End of the Bond Bull?

Markus Evens Keynote

Las Vegas

2015

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Bloomberg Commentary Sample July 2021

Bloomberg Commentary Sample Aug 2021

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Books & Articles (9)

In Search of Clarity

Divergences

What's So Scary About Inflation?

Thinking about Thinking

The Confidence Factor

Investors Confident - but Careful

Money Lessons Start Early

Sturm und Drang

The Worry Closet

Expertise (26)

Awards & certifications (3)

Women To Watch

The Business Journal

2004

Top Women in Finance

2016

Top Women in Finance - Circle of Excellence

Finance & Commerce

2021

Reviews

Testimonials (1)

CFA Society Seattle had the privilege of hosting Carol Schleif at our Annual Economic Forecast Dinner on January 25, 2018. This is our society’s marquee event that gathers local investment professionals. Carol was part of a three-speaker line-up themed around the performance of financial markets with a focus on underlying economic drivers, behavioral factors, and impact investing considerations. The content Carol delivered—in both her presentation and panel Q&A—was detailed, yet concise, and exactly what we were looking to provide our members and guests. Carol was very active in the preparation for this event. She was available for conference calls and extremely responsive via email. We would highly recommend Carol if you are considering hosting an event aimed at the investment management profession. Dylan Kelly, CFA Past President | CFA Society Seattle
Dylan Kelly
Verified

Why choose me?

Engaging and extensively experienced speaker with unconventional insights & extensive media exposure

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