Voice of Experience: Teresa Weintraub, President and CEO, Fiduciary Trust International of the South

By Cathie Ericson

“To whom much is given, much is expected.” Those are the words Teresa Weintraub lives by, especially when it comes to mentoring other young women, and she urges her peers to also lead by example.

Weintraub’s career has spanned the worlds of international tax, fundraising and now the wealth management world as the president and CEO of Fiduciary Trust International of the South in Florida, which she joined in 1998.

“Though my path seems circuitous, when you step back, you can see how it’s all connected,” she says. She left her career as a tax attorney when she realized it didn’t offer the flexibility she needed for her young family and her desire to spend as much time as possible with them in addition to activities such as president of the PTA and other roles. As a tax attorney, she gained the technical and analytical skills while her 11 years in fundraising at the University of Miami offered her the community knowledge and people skills necessary to succeed in her current role.

“Though my path seems circuitous, when you step back, you can see how it’s all connected,”

One of her key focuses right now is developing her firm’s Latin American strategy, which she has been working on for the past two and a half years in order to help families from that region, or who either have moved to the United States or have beneficiaries who are residents or citizens of the U.S. The fact is, there are many U.S. nationals who are living abroad who may not realize that there are certain reporting requirements. Her firm has identified a significant market to work with and the goal is to ensure those families will be able to successfully transfer their assets to future generations in the most tax advantageous manner possible.

She is extremely proud of having grown Fiduciary Trust International of the South to be the fifth largest trust company in Florida, with the help and support of her team and her colleagues at Franklin Templeton, the parent company of Fiduciary Trust.

Weintraub knows how vital it is to have a team that you believe in, because as she mentions, as you rise in management and the business grows, it becomes harder to work directly with clients. “You need people in place that you trust to do a great job. If you’ve done your hiring, training and mentoring well, you have those people,” she says, adding that one of her favorite aspects of her position is mentoring and working with young people in the firm and seeing them rise through the ranks.

Advice for Those Starting Out

Though her career path makes sense in retrospect, Weintraub is the first to admit that she never spent too much time assessing career goals or making long-term plans. “I have never felt regret over something I didn’t do because at that time, I didn’t realize it was something I should have been doing.”

She advises women who are starting their careers to speak up and make their voices and opinions heard. “Sometimes a woman who speaks up is considered aggressive, and a man who speaks up is considered smart. That’s an issue that’s still with us, but we are making strides and shouldn’t let that deter women.”

Weintraub says it’s important to work hard, with focus and integrity, and become that go-to person who can be relied on to get the job done. “People will recognize and be grateful for your support and hard work, and that’s when the promotions come.”

“People will recognize and be grateful for your support and hard work, and that’s when the promotions come.”

She hopes that women in leadership positions take the time to mentor, coach and develop other women. Of course, she says it’s important to mentor all young people, male and female, to really coach and pull people aside after meetings to spend time and give feedback – what did they do well? What could they do better?

“When I started, women tended to be harder on other women,” she recalls, appreciating how much that has changed. “We as women didn’t have role models helping us because they were just trying to survive. But since that’s no longer the situation, we need to be good role models — supportive and encouraging.”

Although the industry has matured – she recalls being told to wear dark suits when she first entered the workforce – there are still advances to be made. One area in particular relates to the issue of women and children. She says that although in this generation, you may see just as many men stepping down, only women deal with the prevailing mindset of ‘are they going to be coming back? “How can that be after so many years of women going back to work after having kids, especially when many men have equal childcare roles?” she asks rhetorically.

In past generations, men were expected to work full time, while women did the carpools, but that is no longer the case. Since this generation is more 50/50, with a lot more hands-on fathers than before, leaders have to be aware that men need similar flexibility options. “I believe strongly that we can’t forget the men in this generation.”

Sharing Success with other Women

Weintraub currently acts as global treasurer for the 60 chapters of International Women’s Forum, a global network of preeminent women, whose careers span fields from chefs to writers to educators. She’s also involved in C200, another invitation-only group of entrepreneurial women, and the Women’s Fund, along with other organizations dedicated to helping women and girls. Mostly notably she was on the founding board of the Miami Commonwealth Institute that mentors and trains women in middle management.

“I believe strongly in being a valued member of the community – that could be your work community, the broader community or your family community.”

Weintraub knows she’s been blessed with a large circle of friends and a close family which includes her husband and three kids, a son and two daughters. She and her husband are committed to traveling as much as they can, having enjoyed recent trips to Cairo and Istanbul. “I have met wonderful women from around the world, and it is great to see their countries and learn their cultures,” Weintraub said. “Women around the world have much in common and much to learn from each other. That’s why I believe that mentoring and helping bring up the future generation of leaders is very important.”

By Cathie Ericson