Jeanne Benson, Service Bureau

1. Tell us a little bit about the First Rate side of Jeanne Benson.

Really my history with First Rate started in March of 1983, long before First Rate was founded, when I was introduced to David Stone, the new supervisor of Investment Performance department where I worked.  A lifetime connection began.

The Stone connection picked up again when I was hired by First Rate in October of 2005.  Since then I have really come full circle. My first position was as an analyst supporting the monthly processing of client data and now once again I am back directly serving our clients as a Client Service Manager (CSM) in the Service Bureau team. In between, I have spent time in Products as a Quality Assurance analyst and as the Help Desk Supervisor.  Recently I was honored to join the leadership team as a First Rate Director and am enjoying the opportunity to serve and learn more about our company in this challenging new role.

2. What keeps you coming through the front door of First Rate each day?

I enjoy the professional challenges and the opportunity to work with top banks and financial institutions in the United States. But whether on the client side or the company side, above all it’s the people I get to work with that really make my day.

3. What activities fill your days at First Rate?

It’s all about providing a quality client relationship.  A typical day can find me working with a team of analysts preparing and reviewing financial data from three First Rate clients for investment reporting.  A continuous activity is staying informed.  It’s my responsibility to know my client’s current and future needs and challenges and to use this information to work directly with other business lines as we strive to deliver a quality product to all of our clients.  I will work with Products, Business Development, Professional Services, and Managed Hosting to provide solutions that range from rolling out enhancements, developing custom reporting, all the way to improving solutions to address questions like “How can we speed up nightly processing?”

4. What has been the highlight of your career to date?

The fact that I can say this product I work with today evolved from the same one I began working with back in 1982.  Oh my, how we have both morphed, grown, and matured over the years!

5. So now give us a little background on the personal side of Jeanne Benson.

I married my high school sweetheart, Rick. He was not “the boy next door”, but he was “the boy across the street”!  We dated all through high school and college and married shortly after graduating from Texas Tech University. We have one daughter, Andrea who has been married for 4.5 years. There are no grandchildren…yet, but we do get an opportunity every now and again to take care of the “grand” dog!   Luckily Rick and I share the same hobby – golf and more golf!

6. You are a native Texan. Share one authentic “cowgirl” influence growing up in West Texas.

Keeping with your “cowgirl” theme, one influence from my West Texas childhood is my respect of horses and all that they taught me; their power, beauty, and gentleness. Fun Fact: There was a chapter in my life that involved showing horses and barrel racing.  I took many hard knocks, knee bangs into the barrels, falls and quickly realized how much power these horses have.   My respect was offered up time and time again as I lay flat on my back, in the dirt after yet another fall, looking up at my horse patiently waiting for me to get up, dust myself off, climb back on and give it another run.  Oh, and then there was that trip to the ER…and that pretty much covers it for this West Texas Cowgirl!

7. Name someplace you would like to travel to and what you would like to do there.

There are many places I dream about traveling to.  If I had to pick one today it would be someplace with beautiful warm, sandy beaches and clear, emerald-blue waters. It could be Florida, California, the Carolinas, Kauai, Hawaii, or some South Pacific island paradise – as long as there is a championship caliber golf course right around the corner. Ask me next week and I’m pretty sure it would change; well except for the golf thing…there must be golf.