John G. Ullman: Financial-Planning Pioneer

CORNING — Flash back to 1978. The financial landscape was clearly delineated. Bankers collected deposits and made loans, insurance companies sold property and life policies, accountants conducted audits and filed tax returns, stockbrokers bought and sold securities and bonds, and attorneys created trusts to preserve accumulated wealth. Someone seeking financial planning had to assemble a gaggle of advisors to create a plan.

On Aug. 28 of that year, a 30-year-old financial visionary, operating from his apartment with one manual and one electric typewriter and driving to his clients in a ’68 Firebird, opened John G. Ullman & Associates, Inc. (JGUA). The firm’s eponymous president had an idea to offer comprehensive financial planning by assembling a team of specialists in one location. But organizing a team with a range of skills was only part of the concept. John G. Ullman saw himself, and still sees himself, as a “country doctor” offering financial prescriptions not only to his clients but also to their families, and being on-call whenever needed.

From one employee whose first office was the size of a walk-in closet (monthly rent was $35.50), Ullman has grown his firm to 55 employees. “Headquarters is housed in five buildings covering more than 12,000 [square] feet, four of which are contiguous and three of which the firm owns, in downtown Corning, and the enterprise includes an office in Rhinebeck and an affiliate office in Rochester,” says the company president. “Our staff of specialists includes nine MBAs, 17 CFPs (certified financial planners), three CFAs (chartered financial analysts), five CPAs, and five attorneys. We service 1,180 client families living in 42 states and eight countries … The company has 60 shareholders.” The Business Journal News Network estimates the business generates annual revenue of about $15 million.

Ullman’s start
Ullman exhibited a skill for numbers in his childhood. “I was a big baseball fan as a kid,” he remembers. “Growing up on Long Island, I memorized the batting stats of all the players. When my father came home from work, he would find the sports page missing from the newspaper. To divert my attention away from sports, he bought me one share of Texas Gulf Sulphur, hoping that I would memorize stock prices instead of baseball numbers. It didn’t work. He now found both the sports page and the financial pages of the paper missing.”

Ullman’s fascination with stocks began at the age of 7 or 8. By the time he was in high school, he not only “managed” funds for people but he also hired neighborhood children to work for him selling greeting cards for the Elmira Greeting Card Co. Ullman, who knew in high school that he wanted to be an investor, pursued his bent for mathematics by earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1972, he joined Corning, Inc., a Fortune 500 company then known as the Corning Glass Works, as the “M&A guy” and held five positions in six years before launching his own venture.

Ullman’s simple idea
“My idea is simple,” declares Ullman. “JGUA is a registered investment advisor that provides comprehensive financial-management services combining customized planning with discretionary portfolio management. By philosophy, I am a balanced manager who requires each client to invest at least 50 percent of his or her account in the conservative category; i.e., outside the stock market. We charge a fee [based on assets] for our service that covers everything (except unusual travel), even the 1,500 tax returns we prepare annually; consider it an unlimited retainer … We don’t sell anything. Our clients know that JGUA is a value-based manager, recommending securities based on low-to-moderate risk. (Value-based investing involves buying securities that are underpriced according to different forms of analysis; e.g., companies trading at discounts to book value, high-dividend yields, low price-to-earnings or price-to-book ratios.) I like to think of us as the quarterback of the estate-planning process.”

Ullman attributes his success to the uniqueness of Corning and its people, timing, his shareholders and directors, and his staff. “Corning is helpful in attracting talented people,” opines the JGUA president. “In addition to those hired by Corning, there is a ripple effect that draws others to the area. Many of them have become our clients … I am also fortunate to have a dedicated board of directors and long-term stockholders who share my ethics and values in guiding the company.

“[But] … success ultimately comes from the staff that advises and services our clients. They are exceptional. We hire people to spend their career here; we want them to retire from the firm. Many have been here for decades. That’s how we build a [multi-generational] relationship with our clients; we truly understand their family histories. Success is also dependent on the leadership team we have assembled at JGUA, including Tom Snow, Karen Meriwether, Cary Muggleton, and Jason Nickerson as senior vice presidents, and Jerry Horton as controller.”

Ullman has seen his pioneering concept adopted as the model of the financial-planning industry. “It’s [heartening] … to see financial planning elevated to a profession,” intones Ullman,” especially in light of how much more complex the process has become. We have to plan now for things such as blended and non-traditional families, long-term care, multiple careers before retirement, and financing college, along with a much more complex tax code and increased regulatory environment. Despite all this, we continue to grow steadily by referrals.”

At age 66, Ullman looks back on the positive impact he has had on his clients and looks forward with optimism to the future of JGUA.

Ullman resides in Corning with wife Barbara (Bobbie), whom he met in high school. The couple has three “young-adult” children. Bobbie Ullman is a director of the company.

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@cnybj.com