LEADERSHIP CORNER
Wealth manager 'optimistic' about small business in Hawai'i
Interviewed by Debbie Sokei
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Age: 52
Title: Vice president and family wealth manager
Organization: Bank of Hawaii. Watumull's department manages portfolios for individuals and families with assets of more than $5 million. Watumull is also president of the River of Life Mission, a Christian nonprofit organization committed to helping homeless and indigent people.
High school: Punahou School.
College: Claremont Men's College, now Claremont McKenna College. Majored in economics and film.
Little-known fact: "I was the lead guitarist in my high-school rock band, called the Inmates. We used to play at school dances and on military base."
Breakthrough job: "It has to be the first business I started, called Natural Resources Inc., when I was 22 years old. It started as a solar-energy business and eventually expanded into electrical, plumbing and manufacturing of energy-efficient light products. I started the business after my father told me about this box they had on the roof of their house where they got all their hot water from. This was right after the oil embargo, and we knew oil prices were going up. I sold the company to a Mainland company before I joined the bank."
Life-changing event: "It was when I spent a month in the hospital going blind. I was hit in the eye in a water polo accident and suffered a detached retina. After three surgeries (and a month in the hospital) my eye was fixed. It was a lifelong journey for me on how I saw the world. I found people were much more friendlier because I couldn't see them."
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Q. How are you related to the philanthropist Gulab Watumull and his late father, Honolulu businessman Jhamandas Watumull?
A. Gulab's father and my grandfather were brothers. My grandfather and Gulab's father started a business together when they came here from India in the 1920s. Then Gulab's father went back to India, and my grandfather for many years built the Watumull clothing store by himself. In the 1950s there was a family split, and my grandfather and father started over. Gulab's side of the family took the retail business. Since then there has been no dealings between the families. My father and grandfather got into real-estate development, and we still have some real-estate holdings.
Q. How did you get started in managing portfolios for high-wealth families?
A. When my grandmother died, I headed the litigation against the IRS for my family. That really opened my eyes to the problems all family businesses will face.
Q. How many clients do you have?
A. Hundreds.
Q. How important is the personal relationship you have with your clients?
A. It's extremely important. We're not only their financial adviser but we become very close to them. For example, when a patriarch of a well-known family passed away, I arranged the funeral service, I got the music and the church. A wedding was held before the funeral, and my wife and I had to sweep the rice out of the pews. We become that close with our clients.
You can't help but get close to them, because you're helping them with critical and deep issues. You become their confidant and friend. I've helped my clients buy cars, helped them get their roofs fixed and send their kids to school.
Q. Last week, the Small Business Administration Hawaii selected you as the small-business advocate of the year. You have a lot of experience with helping your clients manage their businesses. Some in business complain that Hawai'i is a tough place to run a company. Do you think Hawai'i is friendly to small business?
A. I think it's more so now than it ever has been. I am very optimistic about small businesses growing in Hawai'i and the economy. The backbone of Hawai'i's economy has been family businesses. Hawai'i has got a rich history of entrepreneurship. In any healthy economy you have to be building your next generation of large companies, and I'm seeing a lot of seeds being planted.
Q. You have a relatively small staff of 12. How do you select people and keep them motivated?
A. First of all, the people we bring on our team are highly qualified and are professionals. I sort of like to hire good people and give them the proper tools to work with. I like to mentor and constantly teach them and talk about case studies with them. I go with them on their business calls. I'm their biggest fan.
By doing this it creates an environment where they feel appreciated. Studies have shown people are much happier and work harder if they feel they are appreciated and know they make a difference. I can't always control their pay, but I can try to create an environment where they're fulfilled in what they do.
Q. Could you describe your management style?
A. I don't like to micromanage. My style is to give my employees the tools they need, direction and vision.
Q. The River of Life Mission in Chinatown serves meals and provides free clothing, medical care and other services to the homeless. How did you get involved with that kind of work?
A. I got involved with it just about when it opened. When I had my contracting company, I donated my truck, time and material to help lay the pipes in the building. When we first moved in the building it was dark, dirty and smelled terrible. We started with a small section of the building and cleaned it up. Today, we own the entire building and serve 30,000 meals a month.
Q. How do you get people to volunteer their time and energy?
A. That is the amazing thing about Hawai'i. People here are the most generous people in the world. We've got a budget of $800,000 to $900,000 a year, and the average donation is $45. We couldn't do what we do for as little as we do without our volunteers. We get between 30 to 40 volunteers every day.
Q. You work with two extremes in life — the people who have and the have nots. Is that a difficult transition for you?
A. It certainly is different. It's two different spectrums, but it gives me a balance. There is some overlapping needs and some very different needs. Our guests at the River of Life have very basic concerns, such as staying off of drugs and alcohol. But a lot of their human needs are the same as the wealthy, like companionship and the meaning of life.
