Top 40 Advisors Under 40

Transcription

Ideas and Insights for Wealth Managers
Volume 20, No. 12 • December 2010
www.onwallstreet.com
onwallstreet • Volume 20, No. 12
• December 2010
Top 40 Advisors Under 40
Kevin Higginbotham
(right) & Steven
Prediletto of
Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
rank first and second
Top 40
Advisors
Under 40
The Street’s
newest young
stars are setting
the industry on fire
C1_OWSDec10 1
11/10/2010 4:37:28 PM
The Top 40 Advisors Under 40
AS A teStAment to the importAnce of teAmwork, thiS iS
the fourth consecutive year that our top spot is taken by a duo. And almost
everyone else on our annual top 40 Under 40 list talked about their teams as
well. (we rank team members by their individual assets under management
so when teammates are placed together, they are counted separately.)
Another common thread we saw this year was a focus on wealthy
families and ultra high-net-worth individuals, particularly those who work
in private equity and hedge funds. You can read all about the common
threads here as well as the differences. read about the advisor who flies to
So
An
the
wa
on
the
cu
an
pro
Ad
U
The
Top
26 onwallstreet
026_OWSDec10 1
December 2010
11/15/2010 4:44:31 PM
South America to talk to clients who live and invest in those domestic markets.
And learn about another one who also flies there to meet clients who invest in
the U.S. One advisor was told he didn’t need college (bad advice), while another
was told to forget law school (good advice). To compile our list, On Wall Street
once again started with the broker-dealers. We asked the companies to identify
their advisors, under the age of 40, with the most assets under management
custodied at their firm. We separated each advisor’s assets from his or her team’s
and ranked them accordingly. We also included a chart with trailing-12 month
production. So read on for a look at the personalities we’ve profiled here.
Advisors
Under
Meet the
future of
the wealth
advisory
industry
027_OWSDec10 2
December2010
onwallstreet 27
11/15/2010 4:44:37 PM
THe Top 40 AdviSorS Under 40
1
Kevin
Higginbotham, 38
$3.97 billion in assets
Steven
Prediletto, 34
BofA/Merrill Lynch//Atlanta
Kevin Higginbotham
28 onwallstreet
028_OWSDec10 3
December 2010
Kevin Higginbotham and Steven
Prediletto oversee what is essentially a mid-cap company of financial
advice. And in a sign of our global
times, they have an extended team
scattered around the globe (eight additional equity partners, plus 55 other
advisors) all ready to jump whenever
a client needs help.
Like many of On Wall Street’s top
advisors this year, their team is a
bifurcated effort—a corporate team
focuses on companies with issues
like 401(k) administration and stock
plans; and an executive team focuses
on the personal wealth management
needs of the individuals at those
companies.
11/15/2010 4:44:54 PM
m
t
$
o
P
m
is
T
fi
th
a
fe
it
th
w
th
$
th
$
p
a
e
o
t
c
th
p
s
y
c
r
p
H
s
b
th
te
la
D
U
o
is
d
in
e
s
en
al
dher
er
p
m
ck
es
nt
029_OWSDec10 4
Photo: Stan Kaady
8
Their individual retail assets under
management alone warrant our top
two slots this year, each topping
$3 billion. But the total assets they
oversee in this empire top $80 billion.
Prediletto and Higginbotham spend
much of their time on management
issues of their disparate company.
There are a lot of interlocking
financial needs, and they “connect
the dots,” says Higginbotham. They
also try to maintain a boutique
feeling on their team, even though
it’s within BofA/Merrill. Much of
the team’s retail assets come from
wealthy families. More specifically,
they have 100 families, each with
$10 million-plus in assets; and more
than 1,000 families with between
$3 million and $10 million.
Working with their clients’ other
professional advisors like lawyers and
accountants, the Merrill team aims to
effectively become the chief financial
officer for their wealthy patrons. They
take care of the finances, so that
clients can focus on the businesses
that generated the wealth in the first
place, Prediletto says.
Both concede that investor
sentiment is much better than last
year at this time. “The world is not
coming to an end,” Prediletto says,
referring to last year’s pessimism.
As if their destinies were
predetermined to be intertwined,
Higginbotham and Prediletto both
started out as interns in 1996. They
both moved to Atlanta in 1999, and
then teamed up in 2002.
For the corporate side of their
team, they deal with some of the
largest companies in the world. Home
Depot, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney and
United Parcel Service are just a few
of their clients. In addition to the
issues like stock plans, they also
draw on Merrill’s other strengths like
investment banking for needs like
equity and debt offerings or treasury
services.
—Lee Conrad
Steven Prediletto
December2010
onwallstreet 29
11/15/2010 4:45:02 PM
THe TOp 40 AdVisOrs Under 40
John Batista Bocchino, 38
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney // New York
John Batista Bocchino started
in this business 14 years ago at Swiss
Bank Corp., (now UBS) trading emerging markets debt. He is now a senior
v.p. at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney,
where he and his three teammates still
focus on trading emerging market debt
for about 400 mostly ultra high-networth families and mid-market client
accounts in Latin America.
His primary market is Venezuela,
which has been volatile over the last
few years, given the political turmoil
and overall uncertainty, he says.
But that has caused spreads to widen,
so the current yield remains high, making it attractive for investors who can
handle the risk. In fact, the Venezuelan
yield curve has been the primary focus in
3
Wells Fargo // New York
Once a cub reporter in
Nantucket, Jesse Eaton left the
Massachusetts island to seek his
fortune on Wall Street when his
newspaper shut down. He got a job
at Lebenthal, a small muni-bond
firm. He moved on to Hambrecht
& Quist in 1997, where he and
Matthew Demer, another young
advisor, were hired to handle the
cash management practice. As
H&Q made its mark taking dotcoms public, Eaton and Demer
helped the young companies with
cash management. The team grew
assets from zero to $4 billion in less
than three years. They moved to
Lehman Brothers in 2001 and built
assets to $7 billion, before “seeing
the cracks in the foundation” and
030_OWSDec10 5
December 2010
$1.52
emerging market debt lately, he says.
Bocchino usually begins his day at
7 a.m., listening to calls and working
on market commentary for clients. His
group begins revising research pieces
and looking for local market news that
may affect pricing. They then send
out research to brief clients on market
conditions and advise on any trading
opportunities.
Bocchino has seen more interest in
emerging markets over the past year
from investors both in Latin America and
the U.S., as higher grade buys are not
offering as much yield. There is also an
increasing comfort level among many U.S.
investors with emerging economies, and
a willingness to invest in these markets.
—Lee Conrad
Jesse Eaton, 38
30 onwallstreet
Merril
Valer
Thoma
BofA/
tomers
on fina
ventur
worlds
on it ex
who, li
interna
feel like
serves
three o
in the f
“Fro
that m
says H
membe
and ul
clients
4
jumped ship in 2007 to Wachovia
Securities, now Wells Fargo.
Eaton and Demer divide their
work the way they always have,
with Eaton focusing on trading and
execution, while his partner concentrates on strategy and relationship
management.
But some things have changed
since 2008. The good news is that
the corporate world is hanging on to
its cash, which spells opportunity for
the team. That also brings more work
because due diligence is much more
stringent. “You can no longer think
in absolutes. You have to question
everything,” he says. “You’re looking
so far under the hood you find yourself
coming out the exhaust.”
—Ben Voyles
Photos(this page): Matt Greenslade
Val
Tho
11/15/2010 4:45:28 PM
Valerie Garcia Houts, 39
Thomas Hutson-Wiley, 36
Merrill Lynch // San Francisco
$1.52 billion in assets each
Valerie Garcia Houts and
Thomas Hutson-Wiley’s team at
BofA/Merrill Lynch focus on customers who aren’t exactly neophytes
on financial issues; they’re from the
venture capital and private equity
worlds. “It’s pretty unique to focus
on it exclusively,” says Hutson-Wiley,
who, like Houts, is a senior v.p. and
international financial advisor. “We
feel like we have a one-trick pony that
serves us well.” The two, along with
three other partners, share equally
in the finances of the team.
“From a partnership perspective,
that makes us work together well,”
says Hutson-Wiley. “Every single
member shares in the economics,
and ultimately that works for our
clients.”
4
Photo: Gary Laufman
7
Merrill Lynch// New York
When Jonathan Kass
their
have,
g and
ncennship
started his career at Merrill Lynch, his
biggest challenge was finding clients.
Almost everyone he called already had
an advisor, many of them at Merrill.
So he started calling small business
owners. At the time, commercial banks
were unable to offer interest-bearing
checking accounts to businesses, so
he used that to get a foot in the door.
Through the years, he has stuck with
that business owner niche and tries
to eventually manage their personal
assets as well. He’s selective on who
he takes on as a client so he can
maintain a high level of service. “I
still watch a ball game at home with
Photos(this page): Matt Greenslade
Voyles
Investors are treated to a threeday annual event on the West Coast
to help educate them on issues like
taxation, and provide a chance to
network with other equity colleagues
and venture capitalists. While venture
capital has been challenged in the past
decade, the team is optimistic about
the year ahead, especially in markets
such as China and India, where, they
note, Merrill is well positioned. Even
though their clients are astute in
arcane financial matters, Houts and
Hutson-Wiley know they trust them
to focus on their own personal assets
and ensure their growth for their
future. “Our clients want to continue to
nurture really interesting companies,”
Houts says. “And we want to help them
do that.”
—Lauren Barack
Jonathan Kass, 39
hovia
nged
s that
on to
ty for
work
more
think
stion
oking
urself
5
031_OWSDec10 6
my BlackBerry in my hand,” he says.
Most of his clients have between
$2.5 million and $5 million in assets.
He wants them to have three business cards in their Rolodexes: their
lawyer’s, their accountant’s, and his.
The biggest difference in his clients
today, compared to last year, is the
fact that they want to be much more
involved now, he says.
Kass uses a handful of money
managers, and he has developed a
style that makes wealth preservation
a big priority. He tries to get 80%
of the upside, while limiting risk.
“We’re not swinging for the fences
here,” he says. -LC
December2010
onwallstreet 31
11/15/2010 4:45:32 PM
ThE Top 40 Advisors UndEr 40
David Massey, 36
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney // Carlsbad, CA
Massey works with businesses
“across the board” to help them manage short-term liquidity needs. This is
something many companies have trouble
understanding, especially after the impact
of global markets.
Last year, many of his clients were
caught off guard by financial crises in
Europe. The result was a desire to keep
it safe when investing. Then, earlier this
year, there was a greater call for returns.
“That created a flight back to quality,” he
says. “So, now we’re kind of tiptoeing back
out, but cautiously doing so.”
Massey shares his clients’ concern for
protection of principal, while still finding
opportunities in the market. But, the yin
and yang of global markets has made
John Sargent, 39
Morgan Stanley PWM // New York
An early stint in the ad sales
department at The Wall Street Journal helped
Sargent excel as an advisor. “Understanding how people consume media and digest
financial information has allowed me to give
advice more intelligently,” he says. “In dealing with clients, we find ourselves explaining past the headline.” For example, when
clients asked him why he recommended
municipal bonds when dire headlines suggested the instruments were risky, Sargent
knew how to add the necessary context
to the news and convince clients that his
advice was sound.
Such a thoughtful approach has served
him well in today’s climate, when clients are
on edge about their portfolios. One thing
he does in his practice, which concentrates
on professionals in the private equity and
32 onwallstreet
032_OWSDec10 7
December 2010
8
Massey focus on managing client expectations with regard to yield curves, which
are flat. He guards against over-reaching
for yield, as he believes that can set the
stage for a painful lesson when yields turn
quickly. He says that being conservative
in the quest for yield until that turn occurs
will allow companies to take advantage of
it and avoid potential pain.
Even in the midst of tumultuous times,
Massey is optimistic about the future.
“You have to keep your eye on the ball and
realize the world is not coming to an end,
but there is still a lot of headwind.”
When he’s not working, he’s spending
time with his wife and three young sons,
who, he says, “take up all of my extra
time.”
—Gwen Moran
9
Gre
Merri
$1.13
financial technology industries, is to maintain
a continuous dialogue with clients about the
market and the outlook for interest rates.
Another is to keep his client pool at no more
than 50. Above that number, Sargent says
it’s time to take on a partner.
He remains bullish about his profession,
and working for a wirehouse. That’s because
he thinks that clients, having weathered
the downturn and scandals associated with
financial services, take comfort in dealing
with organizations that have multiple resources. Sargent also believes that clients
now understand what advisors do, which is
best for all concerned. “Clients have come to
appreciate that it’s a grind-it-out business, and
what we’re trying to do is combine a huge number of inputs in a coordinated fashion,” he says.
—Michelle Lodge
Even
asset a
And la
on spe
be des
sector,
“Bond
questio
rates so
correla
I have a
income
One
have to
Fixed i
asset c
busine
of fam
11/15/2010 4:45:52 PM
8
Andrew Lodoen, 39
Merrill Lynch//Boston
Lodoen’s upbringing in a mili-
pectawhich
ching
et the
s turn
vative
ccurs
age of
tary family, shaped by nonstop travel and
bootstrap financing, helps bring him a balanced, matter-of-fact approach to managing
interests worldwide as part of a 13-person
group. “I credit my mom,” Lodoen says,
recalling her meticulous bookkeeping on
graph paper during his father’s 26-year
Army career. Those lessons from his past
(including a wide variety of living circumstances) is a path that Lodoen continues to
follow—only the numbers are now a little
larger, and the global exposure even more
exotic and widespread.
After college, Lodoen took a job at a
commercial bank in Florida before deciding
that it wasn’t for him. “It wasn’t exactly a
hotbed in terms of geography.” He followed
family members to Boston and began
working on the custodial side at State
Street before shifting to broker-dealer
imes,
uture.
ll and
n end,
nding
sons,
extra
Moran
Gregory Cash, 34
Merrill Lynch//Charlotte, NC
Even for investors steeped in
asset allocation, it’s still all about education.
And lately Cash has been advising clients
on specific risks and exposures in what can
be described as an arcane fixed-income
sector, especially in the current environment.
“Bonds are an area that clients ask a lot of
questions about,” he says. “With Treasury
rates so low and other asset classes potentially
correlated to equities, they wonder, ‘Should
I have a very conservative exposure to fixed
income, balanced, or be more aggressive?’”
One can chase yield, but, Cash says, “clients
have to balance out and understand the risks.
Fixed income generally is a less understood
asset class for any investor who’s not in our
business.” He also believes in the power
of family histories. He says his $10 million
033_OWSDec10 8
10
Robertson Stephens a decade ago.
Now part of a Boston team whose clients
are mostly in private equity and venture
capital, Lodoen is also expanding by looking after money and investments in India, a
dynamic but highly regulated and complex
environment. Each member of the Merrill
team in Boston is responsible for building and
growing relationships. The client gains access
to three or four team members in case the
point advisor is out of pocket. Lodoen values
this deep bench, and says it offers the kind
of expertise that attracts and retains clients.
BofA’s breadth helps too. “I approach a client
with all the capabilities we have,” he says.
His outlook on the near-term for the advisory
business? “Positive!” He’s seen three harsh
downturns in his career, but his attitude is that
markets are going to change every day. “I do
think that if you stay the course, it works out
in the end.”
—Mike Dumiak
11
investors are more likely to congeal around
strategies better suited to protect and grow
their wealth if they know their family trees.
It’s multi-generational storylines that pay
dividends for all involved, he says. “Three
generations from that matriarch or patriarch,
there can be things that are forgotten or not
taught because you weren’t directly at the feet
of the wealth creator. They may have heard
stories, but may not understand the values
that person lived by. Part of our process is to
help them know their story.”
Cash has done what he’s loved since graduating. “A week later I started with Merrill
Lynch in their training program,” he says.
“I’m hoping I can be one of the few who can
say in 30 or 40 years this is the only job I’ve
ever had.”
—Shane Kite
December2010
onwallstreet 33
11/15/2010 4:45:57 PM
Peter Princi, 34
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney // Boston
A summer internship turned peter
Princi into a financial advisor. Watching a
30-year veteran serve his clients opened
Princi’s eyes to the sense of empowerment and
the potential rewards the business-within-abusiness brokerage model offered.
In 1999, Princi joined Smith Barney in
Boston, where he has worked ever since. In
the early days, he worked the phones and
pounded the pavements to drum up clients.
He was an avid student of the capital markets
and was always prepared to offer an opinion
on the outlook for almost any asset class. In
retrospect, Princi traces his big break to the
technology bust in 2000. “Early on I was taught
never to buy anything I did not understand,”
he says. “At the height of the tech bubble, I
didn’t understand valuations in the equity
market, so I stayed more focused on fixed
income and preserving principal.” Grateful
clients who saw their money protected dur-
Charles Balducci, 35
Eric Snyder, 36
Merrill Lynch//New York
Charles Balducci (left),
Eric Snyder (right)
34 onwallstreet
034_OWSDec10 9
December 2010
13
12
ing the 2001-2002 bear market passed along
referrals—and Princi was quick to seize the
opportunity.
Princi serves more than 125 individual
clients who typically have $1 million to
$15 million in assets. He leaves the planning
to a colleague who is a certified financial
planner, while he concentrates on investment management. Many clients have given
him discretion over their assets, which
enables him to make rapid tactical moves
to take advantage of market dislocations.
In early 2009, for example, he put 15% of
the discretionary money into high yield
bonds at a time when the spreads over
Treasuries were close to all-time highs.
The move paid off in spades. “If people
trust you with their livelihood, that is a
big deal,” Princi says. “To be able to act
on market opportunities is critical to my
business.”
—Neil O’Hara
Charles Balducci and eric snyder don’t
finish each other’s sentences. But give them a few
more years and they just might—after all, they spend
more time with each other than with their families.
Although only 35 and 36, respectively, the former
fraternity brothers have worked as a team at Merrill
almost since they completed its training program more
than 12 years ago. “We were probably the youngest
team at Merrill,” Snyder says.
To get prospects two or three times their age to trust
them, they earned a number of professional designations and became fluent in such issues as managing
concentrated stock portfolios.
Today, the partners have 174 high-net-worth clients,
including a large share of the assets of two billionaire
families. Ten people work in their group. Balducci
focuses on helping clients manage large, concentrated
stock portfolios and reduce risk, while Snyder focuses
on foreign investors and works with clients who want
to deal with external money managers. Still relatively
young, they now use their age as an advantage, because
they will likely still be working even after their clients
retire or pass away, making the transition to the next
generation smoother.
—B.V.
11/15/2010 4:46:25 PM
1
G
UB
$1
Fo
aff
ne
wit
the
to
“T
are
do
tru
Fo
pro
is t
ma
2
UBS//Boston
Peckler knew he wanted to be
along
ze the
vidual
ion to
nning
ancial
nvestgiven
which
moves
tions.
15% of
yield
s over
highs.
eople
at is a
to act
to my
Hara
on’t
a few
pend
milies.
rmer
errill
more
ngest
trust
ignaaging
ients,
naire
ducci
rated
cuses
want
tively
cause
ients
next
B.V.
15
Max Peckler, 38
an advisor while still in college. So his father
called his own advisor at Merrill Lynch to
inquire about an internship. The advisor
counseled him to skip college, and just start
working in the field. Looking back, Peckler
says it was terrible advice, noting that few
clients would want to trust their wealth to
someone without a college education.
But he understands the thinking now.
There is no substitute for knowing how hard
it is to build a practice from scratch—building relationships one client at a time. “No
book can teach perseverance and the work
needed to build a business,” he says. He
compromised. He packed his classes into
two days a week, and worked the other three
days at Oppenheimer, learning the ropes.
After graduation, he went to work for Smith
Barney and started building his business with
cold calls and referrals. His team now offers
clients the best of the old and new worlds. His
partner, Myra Kolton, built her business over
40 years as a traditional stockbroker. Peckler
took the financial planning approach, and
they joined forces about six years ago. He
works on multi-generational issues, among
other things, and spends time educating
clients’ heirs on personal finance. “They
can easily make mistakes from not having
to make decisions before,” he says. He also
enjoys tracing the history of relationships.
“We can pull a file from the cabinet and see
how one relationship spurred five clients—he
referred his golf buddy, and so on.”
When he’s able to get out of the office and
visit clients in their homes, he’s reminded of
his motto: “You can have anything you want
in life as long as you help enough people get
what they want first.” —Elizabeth Wine
16
17
Gregory Klenke, 36
Goran Bojovski, 29
UBS // Houston
Merrill Lynch//Edison, NJ
For Gregory Klenke, business truly is a family
While Bojovski was in college, he worked as
affair. He has worked with his cousin and older brother for
nearly 15 years; three other members of his staff have been
with his team for nearly a decade. That loyalty binds not just
the office together, but clients as well. “The staff all just went
to the wedding of one of our team members,” Klenke says.
“The team is our strength, there’s a lot of continuity... these
are folks we trust and they really take pride in the job they
do, and we hang on to them and them to us.”
That sentiment also holds true for their clients who have
trusted their wealth with them. Working primarily with
Fortune 500 public firms, Klenke handles the firms’ equity
programs. Then, as employees want to diversify, the hope
is they’ll turn to his team to handle their personal financial
matters—and keep it all in the family.
—L.B.
a brokerage intern making cold calls. He also learned what he
didn’t want to do: sit in front of a computer screen all day. That’s
why he likes his job advising businesses and executives across
the country. He keeps his guidance simple.
He encouraged clients in 2008 to stay the course rather
than going to cash. Almost all did, and were glad afterwards.
Bojovski also avoids esoteric products and doesn’t pick individual
equities. “When I’m out of the office so much, it wouldn’t be
fair to clients to try to stay on top of every stock recommendation,” Bojovski says. Ten years ago, people questioned whether
they needed advisors, since ETFs and Internet transactions
were gaining popularity and “everything kept going up 20%
a year.” Today, volatility is back, and so are clients, seeking
more individual advice.
—Vanessa Drucker
035_OWSDec10 10
$986 million in assets
December2010
onwallstreet 35
11/15/2010 4:46:21 PM
18
19
Brian Sharpes, 39
Jack Riley, 34
UBS // Walnut Creek, CA
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney//Morristown, NJ
When sharpes hands his clients ipads pre-
Fresh out of college in March 2000, riley
loaded with his presentations to facilitate discussion, they’re
usually impressed. His refusal to get bogged down in conventional thinking has been a driving force in his career. When
he started as a quant manager in the early 1990s at Shearson
Lehman, he saw some of the firm’s wealthy clients choosing
specialized money managers to handle various aspects of their
wealth. Combined with his interest in high-alpha stocks, an
idea formulated: “What if you created a portfolio of high-alpha
money managers? How would that work?” he says. Although he
says he felt like an outlier at the time, he gave it a try it. Today,
he and his team now work in what they call a core satellite
structure, with the core indexed and a group of active highalpha managers working on various aspects of the account to
increase returns. A revolutionary concept a decade ago, it has
become a successful and replicated model.
—G.M.
moved to New York and joined Salomon Smith Barney as a sales
assistant with a group focused on servicing C-suite corporate
executives at Fortune 500 companies. He added to his education and climbed to full-fledged financial advisor.
The clients he and his colleagues serve run the gamut—from
active executives in their early 40s all the way to retirees in their
80s. But the practice focuses on 55 to 60-year-olds making the
transition to retirement. “We work with outside counsel and
tax advisors to offer a comprehensive financial and estate tax
platform,” Riley says. “We are a quarterback to clients’ financial
planning.” The group handles a wide range of accounts from
those used only to facilitate corporate option exercises, to ultrahigh-net-worth balances. “We use separately managed accounts
and multiple fixed income vehicles to deliver conservative and
consistent portfolio returns,” he says.
—N.O.
20
21
Dan Rothenberg, 28
Alex Shahidi, 37
UBS//Los Angeles
Merrill Lynch//Los Angeles
rothenberg says he’s always wanted to work
Most financial advisors enjoy the sales aspect
with people, so after graduating college with an economics
degree, he considered investment banking, human resources
and even advertising. Nothing clicked until he came upon
the idea of a financial advisor. “[It] provided me with a perfect mix of two of the things I wanted; a focus on personal
relationships [and] some number crunching.” Up at 5 a.m.
to be at his Los Angeles desk in time for the market opening
in New York, he and a partner focus on retirement planning.
He thrives on an atmosphere that encourages strengthening
personal relationships as new regulations call for change. He
believes that over time the practitioners in retirement planning
will decline and that new advisors won’t be likely to move in and
start from scratch. [Editor’s Note: Rothenberg left MSSB for UBS
while On Wall Street was going to press.]
—M.L.
of their jobs, but self-described “student of the markets” Alex
Shahidi brings a definite analytical mind to the table. After law
school at UC Hastings —“I didn’t go to practice law, I wanted
to expand the way I thought”—Shahidi, who had interned at
Merrill Lynch, joined its private banking team. Not a natural
salesman, he depends on deep knowledge for his confidence. In
his early days, when most new hires were working the phones
trying to establish relationships, Shahidi spent his time reading
whatever he could find about asset management. It must have
stuck. Now he’s the team’s investment expert, lending oversight
into allocation across the gamut of asset classes. In addition to
the assets under custody with Merrill, there is an additional
$10 billion under custody with other shops, from Northern Rock to
Schwab to Vanguard.
—M.D.
36 onwallstreet
036_OWSDec10 11
December 2010
11/15/2010 4:46:39 PM
22
23
Jeffrey Bryan, 38
Kevin Scott, 37
Merrill Lynch // New York
Merrill Lynch // Los Angeles
The last few years has proven to be a litmus
For Kevin Scott, emerging markets, leavened
test for trust in the industry, Bryan says. “Nobody wants to go
back to 2008, but we lost very few clients through that period.
I think that’s the best proof of whether we’re providing value.”
The five-person group Bryan leads is responsible for all asset
allocation and investment decisions for KKM, a 28-person team
focused exclusively on ultra-high-net worth clients in Merrill’s
private banking and investment group. These clients include
managing partners at private equity firms and hedge funds and
they demand superior service. They want context to current
events, but they’re also looking for what’s not in the headlines.
Example? Gold, the topic du jour, is old hat to his team. They
still have it in portfolios, even more than historical levels, but
they’ve significantly diversified to include more international
fixed income, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed and senior loans.
—S.K.
with a healthy portion of blue chip stocks, are what bring the
returns. To do his research, Scott rises early to catch CNBC
Asia, examines what’s affecting China, India and Brazil (what he
calls the “big three”), and tracks the equities of tried-and-true
multinationals, such as IBM, Emerson Electric and Caterpillar,
which have a presence in fast-growth developing countries. Then,
he meets with clients and puts together portfolios based on his
firm’s assessment of how best to help them reach their goals.
That strategy has paid off for the 12-year veteran. This past
year might get other advisors down, but Scott sees the upside
of the sluggish recovery and client uncertainty. His enthusiasm
shines through when he talks about the world, and that can
only benefit his clients in today‘s investment climate. “From my
perch, it’s an interesting time to watch the global economies
develop,” he says.
—M.L.
24
25
David Lund, 36
Ryan Sprowls, 35
Merrill Lynch//Grand Rapids, Mich.
Wells Fargo//Alexandria, Va.
Retiring baby boomers are understandably
Ryan Sprowls caught the money bug at an
concerned about their financial security, but Lund cautions that
there is a danger in being too cautious. Since boomers expect
to live for decades after they retire, one has to be prepared for
the long years ahead.
His clients, whose average age is 53 to 57, are looking for
safety, yield and growth, but it doesn’t exist in one package, he
says. “They want a risk-free rate, but it turns into a rate-free
risk.” So he works to help clients save and invest for their retirements. What he loves about being an advisor is the marriage
of working with people and the technical aspects of finance.
He likes his clients to also take an active role in their finances
and avoid the “home town bias” of local investments. “There’s
an art to taking different concepts and making them palatable
to clients,” he said.
—Judy Schoolman
early age. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, he mowed
lawns and shoveled snow. He still relishes providing that personal
service. After he helped a newly-widowed woman handle the
rollover of her late husband’s 401(k) account, she brought him
flowers cut from her own garden. “That just blew me away,” he
says. “The gratitude that clients have toward me is wonderful.”
Clients with investable assets of $1 million to $10 million form
the core of his base. And with an average age close to 60, most
are either in retirement or preparing for it. Satisfied clients
generate referrals of new business, but Sprowls prefers to grow
by raising average balances per account. He wants to maintain
the high-touch service that keeps existing clients happy without
adding staff. “The trick for me is not to see how big I can become
but how small I can stay,” he says.
—N.O.
037_OWSDec10 12
December2010
onwallstreet 37
11/15/2010 4:48:24 PM
The
rank
1
26
27
Gregory Hersch, 31
Pablo Gherardi, 32
UBS//New York
Wells Fargo//Miami
2
3
4
5
(tie)
7
8
9
For Gregory hersch, the most important job
About once a month, pablo Gherardi travelsfrom
skill is listening. He enjoys learning his clients’ goals, objectives,
values and risk tolerances—and then mapping out customized
plans to address them. He works with about 30 families, mostly over
the age of 50. “When I go into meetings with a prospective client
who may have decades of life experience ahead of me, they may
wonder how I could be prepared,” he says. But once they realize
his full knowledge, they’re usually appeased. In the summer of
2007, he grew cautious on the housing market and overweighted
his portfolios with hedge fund manager John Paulson. Throughout
2008, he cut equity exposure from 65% to 20%, and built up 40%
in cash. The following year, he repositioned for recovery, reinvesting that cash in senior credit instruments. Now he is buying
shorter bonds and low volatility hedge funds. He believes loose
monetary policy will produce a few more good quarters for equities, but is cautious thereafter, expecting sovereign concerns to
manifest again.
—Vanessa Drucker
his home in Miami to South America, where most of his clients
live. He and his team specialize in money management for families in Argentina and Uruguay, with typical net worths between
$1 million and $5 million and some as high as $25 million.
One of the important aspects of working with his clients
who have investments in the U.S. or Switzerland, is building
connections through regular face time. “They have a lot of
confidence in the U.S., but they want to have information
and feel confident in [their advisors].” The travel is rigorous,
but it’s also a homecoming for the Uruguay native. He began
his career as a bank teller when he was 18. From there, he
moved into private banking and joined Wells Fargo in 2008.
The relative stability of U.S. financial markets, even in light of
the recession and recent issues in the financial sector, make
it an attractive market for those whose political and financial
markets are even more volatile, he says.
—G.M.
10
11
12
13
(tie)
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
28
25
26
Jason David Zaks, 36
Deutsche private client division//Winston-Salem, NC
Jason david Zaks has been following the
markets for most of his 36 years and from an early age he
knew what path his career would take. “I was the kid with
the lemonade stand,” he says. As a college and graduate
student he studied economics and business. And with
degree in hand, he sought out Alex Brown and Sons, the
centuries-old financial services company that became part
of Deutsche Bank in 1997. “It was the place you wanted to
work.” Zaks credits his interpersonal skills for his success
in dealing with clients on a topic as potentially sensitive as
their finances. “It’s a combination of psychology, entrepreneurial spirit and an analytical bent.” Coming from a family
of doctors, and having a sibling who has been a life-long
volunteer, had helped illustrate the importance of working
for others, he says.
Another essential skill is his ability to organize groups
and committees, especially for the clients that are philanthropic organizations that might have myriad concerns and
priorities.
“On a personal level, whenever I pass a cancer center, and
know that we helped financially to build that center, it’s the
greatest satisfaction.” He describes his business motto as
“winning by not losing.” The financial markets “have taught us
the ability to look at an organization’s liquidity needs, liabilities,
etcetera, and try not to lose money. We try to keep a steady hand,”
Zaks says.
— J.S.
27
28
29
(tie)
(tie)
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
38 onwallstreet
038_OWSDec10 13
December 2010
11/15/2010 4:47:02 PM
m
s
n
s
g
f
n
,
n
e
.
f
e
l
as
reily
ng
ng
ups
annd
Rank
Assets
(in dollars)
T-12
(in dollars)
Name
Firm
Office
1
Kevin Higginbotham
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Atlanta, GA
3,970,000,000
1,200,000
38
2
Steven Prediletto
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Atlanta, GA
3,040,000,000
897,000
34
3
John Batista Bocchino
MSSB
New York, NY
2,270,000,000
9,300,000
38
4
Jesse Eaton
Wells Fargo
New York, NY
1,586,500,000
1,020,000
38
5
Valerie Garcia Houts
BofA /Merrill Lynch
San Francisco, CA
1,523,951,887
1,296,799
39
Thomas Hutson-Wiley
BofA /Merrill Lynch
San Francisco, CA
1,523,951,887
1,296,799
36
7
Jonathan Kass
BofA/Merrill Lynch
New York, NY
1,300,000,000
3,100,000
39
8
David Massey
MSSB
Carlsbad, CA
1,196,432,837
1,356,416
36
9
John Sargent
MSPWM
New York, NY
1,152,784,000
2,034,039
39
10
Andrew Lodoen
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Boston, MA
1,143,780,603
892,387
39
11
Gregory Cash
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Charlotte, NC
1,137,719,000
1,614,000
34
12
Peter Princi
MSSB
Boston, MA
1,125,000,000
3,158,612
34
13
Charles Balducci
BofA /Merrill Lynch
New York, NY
1,059,281,197
1,465,189
35
(tie)
Eric Snyder
BofA /Merrill Lynch
New York, NY
1,059,281,197
1,465,189
36
15
Max Peckler
UBS
Boston, MA
1,021,000,000
3,385,579
38
16
Gregory Klenke
UBS
Houston, TX
1,000,000,000
1,922,633
36
17
Goran Bojovski
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Edison, NJ
986,000,000
400,000
29
18
Brian Sharpes
UBS
Walnut Creek, CA
942,109,397
2,266,090
39
19
Jack Riley
MSSB
Morristown, NJ
844,000,000
1,150,808
34
20
Dan Rothenberg
UBS
Los Angeles, CA
833,000,000
1,165,000
28
21
Alex Shahidi
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Los Angeles, CA
808,187,294
1,473,835
37
22
Jeffrey Bryan
BofA /Merrill Lynch
New York, NY
798,452,654
1,473,097
38
23
Kevin Scott
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Los Angeles, CA
796,676,651
749,797
37
24
David Lund
BofA /Merrill Lynch
Grand Rapids, MI
770,000,000
850,000
36
25
Ryan Sprowls
Wells Fargo
Alexandria, Va.
741,742,477
2,536,000
35
26
Gregory Hersch
UBS
New York, NY
708,260,485
637,036
31
27
Pablo Gherardi
Wells Fargo
Miami, FL
673,781,098
1,200,000
32
28
Jason David Zaks
Deutsche
Winston-Salem, NC
635,000,000
845,000
36
29
F. Michael Covey III
UBS
Chicago, IL
607,000,000
1,995,953
38
(tie)
Thomas Kane
UBS
Chicago, IL
607,000,000
1,982,907
33
(tie)
Mark Wiktor
UBS
Chicago, IL
607,000,000
2,017,576
39
32
Andrew Stern
MSSB
New York, NY
569,000,000
1,311,000
35
33
Jared Samos
MS PWM
New York, NY
563,000,000
4,900,000
34
34
Carrie Gallaway
MSSB
New York, NY
562,000,000
1,320,843
34
35
Emily Bach
MSSB
Orinda, CA
544,000,000
1,665,000
39
36
Eric Beiley
MSSB
New York, NY
540,000,000
2,255,000
38
37
Marcus Fagersten
UBS
San Francisco, CA
526,516,958
769,812
39
38
Adam Schur
MSSB
Purchase, NY
485,000,000
1,350,000
39
39
Bruce Munster
MSSB
Los Angeles, CA
478,000,000
2,400,000
35
40
Brett Bartman
RBC Wealth Mgt
Los Angeles, CA
450,000,000
2,200,000
38
(tie)
039_OWSDec10 14
December2010
Age
Source: The listed companies
nd
he
as
us
es,
d,”
The List of Top Advisors
onwallstreet 39
11/15/2010 4:47:07 PM
29
3
F. Michael Covey III, 38
Thomas Kane, 33
Mark Wiktor, 39
Ca
Mor
$56
UBS//Chicago
$607 million in assets each
Teammates Covey, Kane and Wiktor come in
at a three-way tie on our list. They focus on wealthy families,
essentially acting as a family office for about 60 clients. Many
of them are also business owners and are looking for one point
person to handle their financial affairs, Covey says. Kane focuses
a lot of his time on research and alternative investments, while
Wiktor does much of the transactional work on their team. One
of the differences they see today, compared to a year ago, is the
heightened demand for liquidity and more tactical portfolios. From
Car
2003 to about 2007, when the markets were going great guns,
investors were more likely to just put assets to work and then let it
go, Covey says. But now, there are more concerns with combining
safety with returns. The team focuses on families with at least
$10 million in investable assets, but the average client has about
$30 million to $40 million, Kane says. And a lot of the team’s
prospecting is old fashioned word-of-mouth. It’s a relatively insular
world, and clients tend to know each other so a good referral can
be worth its weight in gold.
—L.C.
33
32
Andrew Stern, 35
3
Jared Samos, 34
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney//New York
Morgan Stanley PWM//New York
With three young children, Andrew stern
After several years as a junior analyst in UBs’s
understands the stress a family can feel as they’re trying
to save. “You can do all the homework in the world, but unless you really know where your clients are coming from,
you’ll never be successful.” Their trust in Stern enabled
him to shepherd them through their anxiety. He considers
his secret weapon a PhD in investor psychology. As clients
have weathered the recent financial storms, he’s ready to
bring them to calmer waters—a skill he believes will always
be useful. “With the proliferation of technology in financial
services and the amount of information, you would think it
arms people with the ability to make informative decisions.
The reality is there is too much to sort through, which is
why clients need to rely on trusted advisors to help them
make good decisions.”
—L.B.
private banking practice, Jared Samos had an epiphany: He wanted
to be a banker, not work for one. So he joined Salomon Smith Barney, and started in September, 2001. He teamed up with Jonathan
Madrigano, an advisor and estate planning attorney who was trying to build a high-net-worth practice. Samos would handle the
portfolio management, while his partner managed estate planning
issues. Their practice has grown to 10 people, but remains centered
around the same concept of providing full-service planning and
management for the ultra-high-net worth set. Many of their clients
are former C-level executives or family members of the founders
of companies. Samos sees a roller coaster ahead: year-end rally
followed by the potential for higher taxes and inflation. So, he’s
looking at shorter bonds and dividend-paying U.S. multinationals
with strong balance sheets.
—B.V.
40 onwallstreet
040_OWSDec10 15
December 2010
perso
lation
and w
1998
Lufk
have
of the
So
Smit
start
on a
ing a
envir
on ho
to be
Eri
11/15/2010 4:47:20 PM
Mor
$54
To r
you h
come
playe
progr
a loca
team
a suc
and c
Su
mana
grew
same
execu
come
want
s,
it
ng
st
ut
m’s
ar
an
C.
BS’s
anted
h Barathan
s trye the
nning
tered
g and
lients
nders
rally
, he’s
onals
—B.V.
34
35
Carrie Gallaway 34
Emily Bach, 39
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney//Orinda, CA
Carrie Gallaway’s part in building a three-
Emily Bach ditched plans for law school partly
person, practice has been shaped by forging personal relationships and focusing on separately-managed accounts
and wealth building. She got her start after graduation in
1998, by taking part in a training program at Donaldson,
Lufkin & Jenrette. She then decided that she “wanted to
have more direct contact with clients and more ownership
of the relationship with clients.”
So moving first to Citi Asset Management and then to
Smith Barney’s wealth management division, Gallaway
started her focus on SMAs and planning. She has taken
on a greater role in estate planning along the way. Looking ahead, Gallaway sees the challenging and competitive
environment continuing. “Clients will really have to focus
on how they are obtaining income,” she says. “That’s going
to be the focus for the industry.”
—M.D.
on the advice of her father, a veteran Dean Witter advisor.
This repeat winner has since thanked him for steering her
toward this career. “How many dads talk their daughters out
of law school?” she quips. She took an unpaid internship at
Dean Witter while still in school. A manager gave her great
exposure to the business by letting her observe everything.
She loved advising and eventually hung her own shingle and
built a $100 million book of business. She then joined her dad’s
Bach Group in 2001, eventually becoming managing partner
for the group. Her dad is still a partner and her mom produces
the group’s newsletters. (Her brother, David, quit the group to
write bestselling books.) Emily Bach offers the ultimate hedge;
liquidity to her retiree-clients. “We can add six or 12 months of
cash and CDs for clients living off their money, so they don’t have
to worry about the next market blip.”
—S.K.
36
37
Eric Beiley, 38
Marcus Fagersten, 39
UBS//San Francisco
To really be successful in this industry,
Marcus Fagersten got the financial bug in
you have to be good at snatching opportunities when they
come whizzing your way. Eric Beiley, a serious lacrosse
player, is good at that. When Beiley started in the trainee
program at Smith Barney in 1995, just out of college, he joined
a local lacrosse team. At one point, a conversation with the
team’s sponsor led to a discussion about the problems that
a successful executive was having with his stock options
and company stock grants.
Suddenly Beiley found his niche: helping executives
manage their company stock positions. As the biotech sector
grew, so did his business. He moved to New York to try the
same thing on a larger scale and now works with Fortune 500
executives. But he still handles every day the same way: he
comes in with a plan of who he wants to talk to and what he
wants to do. “And I don’t leave until I get that done.” —B.V.
college. Rather than going to class, he snuck off to a discount
brokerage firm in Beverly Hills. “I listened to old guys, asked
a lot of stupid questions and made a lot of stupid trades,” he
says, laughing. He dropped out of college in his junior year
to work at Lehman Brothers, a decision that did not go over
well at home. (Ten years later he went back and finished his
degree). He has developed a specialty in helping executives at
public companies divest block stock, restricted and otherwise.
He also helps structure 10b5-1 trading plans. And when the
proceeds need to be invested, it leads to the other part of his
business—general wealth management. He also has clients
with other liquidity events, such as small business owners who
want to sell their business and retire. He says he tends to be
conservative at these times. “Protecting the fruits of that labor
is much more important than producing a return.” —E.W.
041_OWSDec10 16
December2010
onwallstreet 41
11/15/2010 4:47:27 PM
38
to mind when picking a financial advisor. Yet Adam Schur says his
ability to stay attuned to what truly keep his clients up at night is
one of his greatest strengths. “I think sensitive people will have
a tendency to listen to [other] people.” His conversations are less
about advice and more personal, he says.
His conservative style of investing is one reason clients
trust him, along with a willingness to handle mundane tasks,
such as confirming a check has cleared. He knows these small
gestures tell clients that he’s focused on their needs. But Schur
is not convinced he would have been accepted into the financial
advisory business today. He recalls a manager informing him
he scored as “too sensitive” on a broker aptitude test when he
was starting out. “Today, I don’t think they would accept people
like me.” —L.B.
39
40
Adam Schur, 39
sensitivity may not be the first trait that comes
Brett Bartman, 38
Bruce Munster, 35
RBC Wealth Mgt//Los Angeles
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney//Los Angeles
Bruce Munster works with business owners on a
variety of pre-sale planning, helping them maximize the value of
their businesses on an after-tax basis. “There are deal attorneys,
there are fairness opinions and there are investment bankers.
There are always folks who are focused on the business and
what’s unique about it. We remain focused on the client and
help the client remain focused on what their objectives are,”
he says. Munster has been a financial coach for 23 dif ferent clients selling major assets, the largest of which was an
$850 million deal last year. He and his partners, John Paffendorf
and David Freeman, realized the traditional practice of coldcalling companies after deals had been announced—along with
every other wealth management firm—wasn’t working. So they
began building relationships with firms before a sale. He and his
six-person team now focus on providing their services to middlemarket business owners. —G.M.
The dark days of 2008 had a silver lining for Brett
Bartman. They enabled him to test his strategies for protecting
investors on the downside. He sought out lower beta, lower-standard
deviation managers who took defensive positions, and he substantially
outperformed the bear market. Bent on preserving capital, Bartman
says he might underperform in roaring, frothy environments like
those of 1999 or 2003.
During pullbacks, however, his focus on risk management helps
buffer portfolios. Bartman takes a hands-on approach to stock selection.
He keeps an active watch on about 50 core investments, often ready
to pounce opportunistically. He even personally selects the assets for
an income portfolio, composed of high-dividend equities. His team
serves 300 or so families. “We don’t limit ourselves to a few standard
models,” says Bartman, who also customizes asset allocations for each
client’s needs. “You can’t blanket people.” —Vanessa Drucker ows
Top regional Advisors
rank
name
Assets
Age
Firm
Location
Beverly Hills, CA
$450M
(in millions)
T-12
(in dollars)
1
Brett Bartman
38
RBC Wealth Management
(tie)
3
4
Chris Calvelli
Adam Estes
Robert Boland
35
33
39
Robert W. Baird
Milwaukee, WI
$450M
850,000
Hilliard Lyons
Bloomington, IL
$412M
2,400,000
RBC Wealth Management
Philadelphia
$350M
1,390,000
Brent Anderson
31
Raymond James & Assoc.
Houston
$325M
679,415
5
42 onwallstreet
042_OWSDec10 17
December 2010
2,200,000
11/15/2010 4:47:38 PM

Top 40 Advisors Under 40

Transcription

Similar documents

women power

Downloading

Get to know your 401(k)

Your 401(k) - Bank of America

bestlaid - The Season Events

Printable Bio - Spiraling Music

Commercial Land for Sale $1,500,000 - Beiler

Merrill Lynch offers access to a variety of investment and...