Teaneck resident Neil Greenspan was recently named to On Wall Street’s listing of Top 40 Under 40. The list ranks the highest-producing advisors in wealth management under the age of 40. Greenspan, 36, is a Financial Advisor at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (Oppenheimer) where he primarily focuses on helping corporations and ultra-high net worth individuals with their financial goals.
On Wall Street also just named Greenspan as one of the top 25 regional advisors under 40.
Greenspan didn’t follow the typical path to his position. The Skokie, IL native actually majored in biology at Yeshiva University. “I knew I wanted to work in finance so I applied for a job at Lehman Brothers,” Greenspan told the Jewish Link. “But they were only taking finance people so they told me no, after one look at my resume!”
It’s been said that timing is everything. While working a temporary summer job in downtown Chicago, Greenspan walked into a Bear Stearns office and asked the receptionist to see the head of Human Resources. The Bear Stearns manager was impressed with his ambition, yet while she had no openings at the time, she called her counterpart at Lehman Brothers on his behalf, and arranged an immediate interview. Lehman Brothers Chicago office hired him that day to support their equity and fixed income traders.
When he returned to Yeshiva University in New York, he was hired to work at Lehman Brothers in their Manhattan office, part time, and structured his course load to accommodate his work schedule. After completing the summer internship program he was offered a full-time position, which he began upon graduation. He worked in fixed income trading for two years and then joined the Private Client Division. “I joined a phenomenal team that already had an extensive client list of very prestigious companies and families. I work with my partner, Sandy Haber of White Plains, who has been in this business since 1991. He’s been a magnificent teacher and inspiration. What I’ve learned from him is incredible. “
Following the fall of Lehman Brothers, Haber and Greenspan and their team moved to Oppenheimer, where Haber had previously worked. Oppenheimer was a fine match for them, as it has been a leader in providing wealth management, financial advice and services for over 130 years. Greenspan stated, “I can service clients in an open architecture platform. This means that I am never selling my client Oppenheimer proprietary products. I am able to call each client and offer strategies that are truly in their best interest, without product quotas or pressures to sell. With each of my clients we start with a blank sheet of paper and we custom tailor the investment strategy that is most targeted to their specific financial goals and objectives.”
“I love what I do,” Greenspan continued. “I have the great pleasure and privilege of working with some of the most distinguished families and corporations in the United States helping them with their investment portfolios.” He also serves as the investment counselor for many of Israel’s top companies. “I travel a few times a year to Israel to meet with companies and clients to discuss how I can add value to their cash and investment portfolios. I get to see the business side of Israel, the “startup nation,” from the ground floor. Helping Jewish families and Israeli companies focus on their wealth is especially rewarding given my active role in the Modern Orthodox community.”
Greenspan and his wife Sivan moved to Teaneck in August 2015 and daven at the Young Israel of Teaneck. They have two sons who attend Yavneh Academy. Noah is in fourth grade and Ezra is in first. They are also the proud parents of a two-month old daughter, Liel.
“I have to thank my wife Sivan who, in addition to being a great teacher at SAR, is amazingly talented at managing the family. She understands and appreciates the time and intensity it takes to do the best job I can.”
*Award based on peer nomination and interviews by OnWallStreet.com. Candidates must be 39 years old or younger, employed by wirehouses and broker/dealers and have qualifying production and AUM.
By Sara Kosowsky Gross
