James Grubman, Ph.D.

Dr. Jim Grubman has consulted to individuals, couples, and families of wealth for nearly 20 years, helping hundreds of clients achieve greater harmony and satisfaction in their relationship to money, family, and life. He has worked with clients at many levels of affluence, up to and including those at the Forbes 400 level. He is often 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, Dr. Grubman brings his knowledge of the client's perspective to his work with family offices, wealth management firms, attorneys, and other advisors. He helps advisors achieve a greater awareness of what clients really want from a strong, trustworthy, caring and transparent advisory relationship. His experience with multidisciplinary teams in healthcare and finance has taught him how integrated services can benefit clients more than traditional methods of simply making referrals to experts. He coaches and trains advisory teams on the core competencies needed in client relationships.

Dr, Grubman's work in wealth counseling 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 financial advising. 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. Dr. Grubman has spoken before 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 former faculty member of the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, from 2004 through 2008, Dr. Grubman developed and taught the first graduate-level-only course in the United States about the psychological aspects of financial planning and advising. His pioneering work in advisor education has helped others develop similar courses elsewhere in the country. He continues to provide advisor education and training materials in conjunction with 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

Dr. Grubman is a member of the Family Firm Institute, the premier organization for multidisciplinary consulting to family enterprises and families of wealth. He 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, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and 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.