Series - Part 1

Georgia CEO presents this special two-part series profile on the Creative Financial Group, Ltd (CFG), headquartered out of the Synovus Signature building in Overton Park in Atlanta, Georgia. We had the opportunity to sit down with Robert W. “Buzz” Law CFP® who serves as President, and Rob W. Law, CFP®, who heads up the second-generation of certified financial planners in place to maintain service continuity for clients. During our one-on-ones, we learned about the specialized executive perks Creative Financial Group provides to powerhouse clients’ AT&T, DirectTV, and, in the near future, Time Warner. In part one of this series, we hear from Robert W. “Buzz” Law, CFP® who founded Creative Financial Group in 1988 and developed their unique corporate service offering of financial, estate, investment, retirement, and tax planning services for busy executives and their families.

Creative Financial Group (CFG) is a division of Synovus Securities, Inc and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with a second satellite office in Birmingham, Alabama. CFG is a financial planning and investment advisory business with services tailored to corporations, executives, business owners, athletes and high-net-worth individuals and families. CFG has built over $1 billion in assets through organic growth over the last decade of service in financial advisement.

Robert W. “Buzz” Law on Serving AT&T and BellSouth Execs for 30 Years:

Robert W. “Buzz” Law offered, “A third of our business consists of corporate contracts consisting of Executive Financial Planning Services for companies, including AT&T, and others.”

“Most large corporations implement profit sharing, retirement accounts and other benefits but don’t provide financial planning at the employee level. We are working with large corporations who want to make sure their employees get the most out of the dollars they earn, and offer financial planning perks to their employees as well. This provides a real value-added service to the employees of these corporations by helping them manage their personal portfolios and investments.”

He continued, “Today’s busy executive spends 90 % of their time with their chosen profession, and the other time with their family. There’s just not enough time in the day to do what I do. 70% of our population uses target based funds and 401Ks. We dig deeper and are able to make a 1% difference over 20 years, translating to hundreds of thousands of dollars for one family.” 

“We have worked with some of our clients like AT&T for 30 years. Our length of service is a big plus for so many of our clients who have grown to trust and depend on us throughout their lives. We do financial planning at the family level, including kids and grandparents, plus we help manage their estate before, during and after probate.” 

Robert W. “Buzz” Law added, “I’ve been in this business for 35 years. My son just took level three for the CFA program. He is my lynchpin for long-term continuity at AT&T.” 

“When AT&T bought DirectTV, a select group of advisors were invited to come in and present for this contract. I am the only one headquartered in the Southeast that can serve our clientele, and there are only a small number of us that can do this and get paid to do it.”

“We were told they would pick one partner. They chose us because we have more experience, and we are a smaller, more personalized, company.” 

“Our advisors have been with us for an average of 17.6 years. We get a lot of our clients because of the high turnover in other firms. Our clients have been working with the same planners for many years and don’t have to explain themselves again and again.”

“Rob is the one in charge of the DirectTV and AT&T program for me. Rob is my AT&T guy who spearheads our service to the new executives since AT&T bought DirectTV. As a company perk, we provide one-on-one service to their executives.” 

Buzz continued, “AT&T has been in an acquisition mode and looking for content to add to their delivery model after their Direct TV acquisition two years ago. AT&T just bought Time Warner.  Time Warner was a smart choice, but was questioned by current administration if they could close the merger.” 

Buzz continued, “Turner Broadcasting is an Atlanta-based subsidiary and part of Time Warner. And, Turner is in my backyard. Many of the executive level folks will come from Turner Broadcasting.”   

“We’ve had a corporate financial planning contract in place since 1986. When BellSouth got bought by AT&T they kept me in place. Our business really grew from this contract. At one time we advise 600 employees for AT&T who are working toward retirement. We were the largest financial planner before Synovus bought us.”  

“One of the differences between us and the big players, we were willing to work with anyone and they were only focused on upper level executives.” 

Robert W. “Buzz” Law concluded, “One of the main goals in our financial planning model is finding clients with whom we can develop a long term working relationship, and make a difference in their finances.” 

Executive Bio - Robert W. “Buzz” Law, CFP®

Robert W. “Buzz” Law is a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner who founded Creative Financial Group in 1984 and serves as the firm’s president. Law manages the practice as well as counsels affluent individuals and their families on comprehensive financial, estate, investment and tax planning matters. Law has held countless executive leadership roles, awards, and achievements for his outstanding work and service in the community. Governor Nathan Deal appointed Law to the Technical College System of Georgia Board in 2014 and again in 2017. Since 2006, Law has been honored in the elite company of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council, and one of “Who’s Who in Banking and Finance” every year from 2005 through 2013. He was also named to the Synovus Chairman’s Circle of Excellence for 2012-2017. Law earned his BA with a major in Finance and minor in Real Estate from the University of Georgia.  

For more information on the Creative Financial Group visit their company website at: http://www.cfgltd.com/.