
Keynote Speaker to the Financial Services Industry

“One of the few women on the national speaking circuit who is guiding financial services firms and their clients to connect with the human side of the client relationship.”
— Family Wealth Report Awards 2020
The Human Side of Wealth
In today’s turbulent world of ruthless competition in the financial services industry, business can be won or lost on subtle differentiators. The stakes have never been higher. Yet too often, firms approach their prospect and client meetings as nothing more than performance and product reviews, and lead with their pitch books. They are squandering a critical chance to focus on what keeps client families up at night, and often lose those business opportunities to firms who treat clients as families and not just as assets under management.
As a self-described “recovering” Trusts & Estates Attorney and CPA, and former principal at a white-shoe trust company catering to ultra-high net-worth families and then family ambassador to a $600 million single family office, Susan R. Schoenfeld, JD, LL.M. (Taxation), CPA, MBA, award-winning thought leader, has the “secret sauce” to help audiences learn to connect with the soft side, the human side, of the client relationship so that their firm can create a competitive advantage, and win and keep more business.

Family Wealth Report Awards 2020
“One of the few women on the national speaking circuit who is guiding financial services firms and their clients to connect with the human side of the client relationship.”

Chris Cobb, Wells Fargo Advisors
“As an advisor who deals with money behavior issues each and every day, it was great to have Susan speak at a recent client event of mine. Not only is she articulate and to the point with her message but she really shares a unique angle of openness to the fragile topic of Family ‘money talks.’”

Opal Group
“Susan nails it every time! She first spoke at Opal’s Annual Family Office & Private Wealth Management Forum back in 2014, and we’ve invited her back to speak every year since. Our audiences love her insight and actionable takeaways, and our in-house event planners love her flexibility and responsiveness.”

Mike Taylor Consulting
“Susan Schoenfeld is a gifted storyteller who blends expertise, experience, and insight in a way that draws people in—and moves them forward. Her keynote at our recent event for affluent families and business owners was met with universal appreciation from clients, our internal team, and outside experts alike. Susan has a rare ability to make complex topics feel clear, relevant, and actionable. Thanks to her contribution, our event was elevated and made more valuable for everyone in the room. She brought the same clarity and impact when speaking to one of our city’s most respected philanthropic organizations.”











































Financial Services Leader
Susan has held many leadership positions in the financial industry, including Principal of Bessemer Trust, where she created, developed and facilitated Bessemer's Women and Wealth Workshops. After that, she was Family Ambassador for a $600 million single family office before launching Wealth Legacy Advisors.

Author & Thought Leader
Susan and Wealth Legacy Advisors won the Family Wealth Counseling Award at the Family Wealth Report Awards 2024 for offering "a range of services to families of significant wealth including advising on raising family members, developing leadership succession plans and legacies of family businesses." Susan won the Outstanding Thought Leadership Award at the Family Wealth Report Awards in 2023 and 2018 for “her many pieces of written thought leadership and participation on panel discussions and in interviews,” and was awarded the prestigious Women in Wealth Management Award at the Family Wealth Report Awards 2020 for being “one of the few women on the national speaking circuit who is guiding financial services firms and their clients to connect with the human side of the client relationship.” She also won GOLD as Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year at the 2024 Citywealth Powerwomen Awards USA. She wrote “Fiduciary responsibility: the trustee role and its risks”, a chapter in Trusts in Prime Jurisdictions. Susan has also written many thought pieces in the family office space.

Contributor to her Profession
Susan chairs the FFI/New York Family Business Study Group, is a member of AFHE (Attorneys for Family-Held Enterprises), Family Firm Institute (FFI), American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and New York State Society of CPAs, and is a former Professional Advisory Board member of NYC Family Enterprise Center and former Board Member of the New York Philanthropic Advisors Network (NYPAN).

Speaker
Susan is on the national speaking circuit on family office matters at conferences across the country from Newport RI to Napa CA, Lexington KY to Birmingham AL, Las Vegas to Dallas, and of course her home town of NYC. Opal Family Office Forum has invited her back to speak at their annual flagship conference every year since 2014, as well as several of their smaller regional events.

Academic Over-Achiever and Serial Volunteer
In addition to her CPA, Susan was awarded an LL.M. (in Taxation) from NYU School of Law, a J.D. from Pace University School of Law, and BBA (summa cum laude) and MBA (with distinction) degrees in Accounting from Pace University. Susan is volunteer Treasurer for both the Broadway Training Center of Westchester, a not-for-profit performing arts school located in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and the Women’s League of Sutton Place Synagogue in NYC.