Louis Schwarz responds to his clients' concerns even though he can't hear what they are saying.
Mr. Schwarz, who is deaf, has been a financial adviser for 26 years and works with many deaf and hard-of-hearing clients at Schwarz Financial Services LLC in Bethesda, Md., where he is senior managing partner.
Many clients are college professors or retired professors at nearby universities, including Gallaudet University in Washington, America's largest educational institution for the deaf.
But now, as a result of low-cost videoconferencing over the Internet, Mr. Schwarz's firm is finding that most of its new clients are coming from outside the Washington metropolitan area. Many prospects are attracted to the firm because of his involvement in several national deaf organizations and his contributions to publications for the deaf.
“It's part of deaf culture to prefer face-to-face communication,” said Mr. Schwarz, noting that his firm uses audio and video devices designed for the deaf, as well as Skype from San Jose, Calif.-based eBay Inc., for clients overseas.
“In the old days, we used to type or e-mail. It's more comfortable for us to see each other, and it's more efficient,” Mr. Schwarz said.
The firm's 10 videophones allow him and his advisers to communicate with clients via sign language. Be-cause the firm has a $100,000 minimum for new clients and most clients have at least $250,000 in assets, Mr. Schwarz said, most clients have access to this technology.
But Mr. Schwarz, whose fee-based-planning-oriented firm manages $20 million, also has a number of clients who aren't deaf.
“People don't recognize us as a deaf company or approach me because of my deafness; they come and work with us because of our professionalism,” he said.
“They trust us,” Mr. Schwarz said.
Mr. Schwarz, who is a certified financial planner, has a seven-member staff, including four advisers, all of whom are deaf.
The firm's potential target market is large.
According to the Bethesda-based National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 36 million adult Americans — or about 17% of the adult population — report some degree of hearing loss.
The group said that two to three out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or with hearing loss and that about 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year.
To help the deaf with financial issues, the National Association of the Deaf in Silver Spring, Md., provides financial education at its conferences, said Rosaline Crawford, director of the law and advocacy center for the group.
“We know of a number of deaf and hard-of-hearing financial advisers, some of whom communicate with people in American Sign Language,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Mr. Schwarz said that his firm's deaf clients appreciate working with a deaf adviser.
“A large percentage of deaf individuals tend to feel most comfortable working with other deaf individuals,” he said. “We have the same language and come from the same place.”
For clients who don't have a hearing problem, Mr. Schwarz and partner Joshua R. Beal communicate by using a voice relay service. The client can ask a question and an interpreter will use sign language to repeat the question.
Mr. Schwarz or Mr. Beal will sign their answers back.
The interpreter relays the information to the client.
Mr. Schwarz and Mr. Beal used that technology during an interview for this article, but both also spoke during parts of the interview.
“Some people prefer to hear a voice, and some are more comfortable with an interpreter,” said Mr. Beal, who spoke during most of the interview.
Nearly half of Mr. Schwarz's clients are retired, while Mr. Beal tends to take on younger clients.
Like everyone else, the firm's clients were hurt and alarmed by the market downturn, though most have now calmed down, the advisers said.
“Because the market was so crazy, I was in cash and didn't start buying until January or February,” Mr. Beal said. “What I've learned from this market is that you've got to be patient.”
E-mail Lisa Shidler at [email protected].
