Passionate about Philanthropy

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Photograph by David Humber

When investment guru and Wells Fargo branch manager Ward Petty turns his focus to giving back, he relies on his professional background. “I look at things like return on investment in the business I’m in,” says Petty, the incoming chairman of the board for Siskin Children’s Institute. “So (at Siskin) I look at the return on investment in terms of lives changed, or made better.”

While such returns may be tough to fit into a box on an accountant’s spreadsheet, they are easy for anyone to see, says the new chair, taking a break from the hubbub of his Broad Street office.

Petty first got involved with Siskin after becoming friends during school at McCallie with Robert and John Pregulman, the grandsons of Siskin founders Mose and Garrison Siskin.

“These guys were really passionate about helping folks, and kids in particular,” says Petty of the family. “Their passion for their mission is what has really made me engaged over the years.”

Today, he says, the founders would be elated by progress at the center, which supports special needs children and their families.

The institute’s next major event is the StyleWorks annual luncheon and fashion show on March 11. While Petty won’t prance down the runway during the show, the youthful, 47-year-old is a veteran fundraiser. In November 2009, he received the Leadership Fundraiser Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals at the National Philanthropy Day Awards.

The Lookout Mountain resident says volunteering and philanthropy help keep his day job in perspective. “I see so many people who are just wrapped up in their money,” says Petty, who attends Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church with his wife, son and daughter. “Their money is just who they are. It comes across at times, specifically when they’re losing it because they’ve stored up treasures for themselves that they are seeing vanish before their eyes.”

Petty has seen the tumultuous nature of the market firsthand, and hasn’t been immune to the recession. Without moving offices or his desk chair, the philanthropic financier has been compelled to change letterheads and business cards three times in 18 months. First, A.G. Edwards, where he had worked for 20 years, was bought out by Wachovia. Most of the stock Edwards employees like Petty owned was exchanged for new Wachovia shares which soon spiraled downward like a mallard at a duck hunt. The stock bottomed out at 75 cents around September, 2008, a financial punch in the gut to investors like Petty, who had allowed his portfolio become laden with his employer’s stock.

“It was a difficult time for me personally,” says Petty, who still has an A.G. Edwards paperweight on a window sill in his office. “I was shocked. I was saddened. I felt stupid because it’s like I didn’t subscribe to the advice I dispensed to my clientele.”

The Wachovia sign hung outside Petty’s office for less than a year before the firm was “snatched up by the grace of God” by Wells Fargo. “It was a sweet relief,” he says of the change, speaking proudly about his new employer. Petty, who oversees more than $200 million in his clients’ portfolios, explained Wells Fargo’s client-focused philosophy is much more aligned with the emphasis he was used to with A.G. Edwards.

Petty, who works long hours, says seeing families at Siskin reminds him in the big picture his problems are small. “When you compare your troubles with someone else’s,” he says, “you realize how good you’ve got it.”

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