Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg  yahoo!  Comments

The Fine Art of Finance

A Springfieldian and top financial advisor had money on the mind from a young age. Now she’s helping others invest (and going to her daughter’s soccer games).

Photo Kevin O'Riley

Nadia Cavner grew up learning about finance from her father, who was employed in the oil industry.

(page 1 of 2)

Nadia Cavner’s office is soothing. From the highly polished wood to the neatly organized layout, the atmosphere sets the tone to put one at ease.
Signs of her success are carefully placed in the waiting area: plaques noting awards won, framed certificates and news clippings highlighting her financial and philanthropic successes.

The magazines on the low coffee and occasional tables in the lobby are ones that feature Cavner. An air of competency fills the space as her staff works efficiently.

One spring morning, a client arrives before 9 a.m. After parking his truck and dusting off his cap, he walks slowly toward The Cavner Group’s offices, located within a Bancorp South branch on East Sunshine street in Springfield.

He tugs at the glass doors to the building, and finding the exterior doors locked, he pauses a moment, perplexed. One of Cavner’s staff quickly unlocks the exterior door and leads the client inside, offering coffee and the promise—quickly fulfilled—that he’ll be able to speak to someone.

The client had popped in for just a moment; he’s concerned about the fluctuating market. Reassured after a short face-to-face conversation, he once again dusts off his cap and walks back to his truck.

Beyond her financial prowess and high-profile donations, Cavner is an enigma.

Springfieldians might have seen her around town, at Greenwood Laboratory School, where her daughter Maral attends, at soccer games, at Holy Trinity Catholic church on Springfield’s east side. Running through the winding roads near her home. But who is Nadia Cavner, really?

“Nadia is one of those people—she’s one of the most interesting people in person that I’ve ever met,” says longtime friend and colleague Laura Zografos-Preusser with Putnam Investments. “There is persona about her, she is passionate when she believes in something, to make it happen.”

Home Away From Her Homeland

Cavner spent her childhood in an Assyrian region close to the Iran/Iraq border. War in the 1970s forced many Assyrians to consider leaving their homes to avoid the violence. Cavner and her sister were among the thousands of Assyrians who left. Her parents sensed the coming danger, and decided it would be best to move the family, rather than take their chances in an uncertain situation.

Cavner emigrated from Iran to the United States at age 14. Her parents made the decision overnight, about six months after her 16-year-old sister arrived in the U.S. Cavner, while growing up in a region dominated by multiple languages, recalls that she knew only one English word: Coca Cola.

At first the sisters stayed with family friends in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. With help from mentor students at Nolan High School in Fort Worth, as well as her family and friends, Cavner adjusted to life in the U.S.

“It was really tough the first year,” she says. “I was paired up with a senior to converse and learn English. I grew up in a bilingual home.... When you are young, it is easy to learn languages.”

In college at Texas Wesleyan University, Cavner faced a slightly more difficult challenge. The coursework and writing were on a different level, and listening became critical to Cavner’s understanding concepts.

She recalls that a Bible class was especially difficult; essay writing did not come easily. The process of the markets, of research and finance, came easier. “I always loved the market, the theory behind it,” she explains.

That love of investment and research began with lessons from her father. The oil-industry entrepreneur insisted that his children learn how to manage their money. He set up stock portfolios, taught them how to read a balance sheet and analyze price/earning ratios. Discussions around the house involved companies, research and how to correlate product with profitability. “I thought the process was fascinating,” Cavner says.

From Texas to the Ozarks

While working on her master’s degree at Texas Christian University, she met Brite Divinity School campus minister Howard Cavner. The melding of a Catholic and a Disciples of Christ youth minister might not seem easy, but “it has worked for us,” she says.

Once married, the two decided to move back to Howard’s native 417-land.

In Springfield, Cavner started as a teller at Savings of America in a temporary position; her leadership team explained that she would move into management within a few months.

However, when a financial planning and investment position opened up, Cavner saw an opportunity to take her ability to play with numbers, stocks and bonds and create a career. She approached her superiors about filling the position. They asked her to complete all the necessary exams within one month. The norm to complete the testing is six months.

Undaunted, Cavner began studying for her Series 7 financial exam, traditionally the most difficult exam. Despite being a new mother and dealing with the exhaustion motherhood entailed, Cavner delved into her study books and completed the exam.