Alishahal Macknojia
University of Houston
Houston (29.7° N, 95.3° W)

featuring Kenneth Misner, Regional Vice President, Touchstone Investments, Houston (29.7° N, 95.3° W)

Kenneth Misner is a regional vice president at Touchstone Investments. He graduated from Rice University in 2014, majoring in Spanish and business, and also completed a summer semester at Yale University in financial accounting in 2012. After graduating from Rice, Kenneth started as an internal sales consultant and rose to regional advisor consultant at Invesco prior to his current role.

We practiced social distancing and conducted our interview remotely while both of us were in Houston. I had the opportunity to ask Kenneth about how he acquired both the relationship building and technical skills that he uses today. Growing up, he was always naturally drawn to the financial services industry and eventually found his mission in wholesaling to financial advisors. At Invesco, Kenneth realized the importance of treating other wholesalers as peers rather than just competition. This opened my eyes to seeing sales, which is normally associated with an aggressive competitive strategy, in a more pacifist and friendly light. The same wholesalers who covered the same region and advisors are in contest with you, but they do not necessarily always oppose you. This professional network of other wholesalers benefited Kenneth when he moved to Touchstone Investments and advanced his career.

I also learned that Kenneth’s father, who also spent considerable time in the same industry, is now one of his clients. In our conversation, we discussed what it was like to be working with a family member. He told me about the benefits of having him as a “sounding board” and person he can go to for advice with less judgement.

Kenneth highlighted to me the value of communication skills in his role as a regional vice president. Since his clients are the advisors who are working with people at a personal level, his job demands a lot of relationship skills. Much of his time is spent meeting with advisors in person and traveling to regions like Louisiana.

I think that Kenneth’s background in humanities and his time spent learning business communication have helped him convey himself to his clients successfully. He discussed how to write concise emails and why he chooses to do follow-up emails and handwritten thank you notes. From our conversation, other people coming out of college can discover if they have any of the qualities or interests that are needed to follow opportunities from portfolio management or internal sales to wholesaling.