The traditional 20th anniversary gift is china. If he could serve a celebratory meal for the occasion, Jeff says, “I’ve always liked Thanksgiving dinner. And you know, sometimes it’s hard to wait a whole year!”

Having worked for Prudential for over a decade, Jeff Pieters knew his way around the financial services industry when he joined North Shore Bank in 2002. He also knew he wanted something different.

“The way North Shore is structured as a mutual institution, I knew it wouldn’t just be about pressure to make a profit,” the investment consultant says. “We keep our customers happy. I’ve always appreciated that about North Shore, and I think it’s one reason why, for so many years running, employees have voted and said this is a great place to work.”

“Jeff and I have worked together his entire 20 years here,” says VP and investment services manager Erika Milosevich, who hired him. “I was so happy to have him join us, as we’d only had the department for two years at the time, and were definitely in the building phase of the program. His knowledge of investments and economics really helps his customers, and he is always willing to share new products and ideas with his co-workers in the department. He has grown his book of business from about $5 million in 2002 to $100 million of assets under management and 2,000 accounts. Quite the achievement!”

Jeff spoke to Shorelines about his career here.

How did you end up joining North Shore Bank?
Prudential had gone through some major changes — closing offices, consolidating — and I knew it was time to start looking for something else. I knew Darrel Eisenhardt from Lions Club, and he encouraged me to apply here. Erika hired me, and I’ve been with her ever since.

How was the transition away from a big corporation like Prudential?
Work-wise, I was doing a lot of similar things. But I’ll tell you what: This is so much better. Our bank leadership lives here. They grew up here. They’ve been in our communities forever. So they truly have our customers and our employees in mind when they make decisions.

I cover literally the same branches I always have, and in 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. But a lot of people are still here, and that says something about this bank.

What has kept you coming back for 20 years?
I love what I do. I love selling — well, I like to say offering, because I want to let the customer decide what to buy. But whether it’s fixed annuities or mutual funds or stocks and bonds, the way I look at it is that my role ties in with how the retail side helps the customer handle their bank accounts: We want them to see us as a full-service financial institution that has their best interest in mind.

What have you learned from your career here?
In 2002, we were still in the middle of a big financial sell-off that was part of the dotcom bubble bursting, and then we had the banking crisis at the end of 2007, and of course, we’ve just had the COVID shutdowns. So there’s a lot of talking people off the ledge, because at times it feels like every customer is worried that the financial system is going to collapse.

So you have to try to calm them down before they do anything rash, and at the same time, you have to recognize that it is their assets, their money, and they get to make the choice. I really like to meet with people face to face when they’re feeling scared, so I can reassess their tolerance for risk and their investment time frame, and talk about strategy. And a lot of customers come to realize, Hey, this is normal. These things are always going to happen, and you have to focus on the longer term.

And what’s your focus on the longer term right now?
It’s been a great ride, and I’m not ready to go away yet. I’ve always said, as long as you guys give me a computer and a desk with the lights on, I’m good to go. I love my team, and I love how we all support each other here. I couldn’t be happier.