In historic UHNW talent grab, Cresset Capital Management makes three more head-turning poaches -- with Deloitte, Wells Fargo and Abbott Downing pedigrees -- in its bid to create a national family office
The Chicago-based RIA seeks to better serve the heirs-to-be as part of a broader strategy to shake the cobwebs out of a stodgy segment for the 1%
7 min read- Cresset aggressively expands its national family office with key hires from Deloitte, Wells Fargo, and Abbott Downing.
- Targets include families with $50M+ net worth, offering comprehensive services beyond traditional wealth management.
- Cresset's strategy focuses on providing innovative technology and personalized services to UHNW clients.
Brooke's Note: The fool's gold of the RIA business, ironically, is the market of $50-million-plus accounts from America's wealthiest families. Hook a whale with your fishing rod and you may end up on the sea floor. Attempts to create national ventures that tackle uber wealth famously stumble. One example of that was myCFO. Another is GenSpring. How being a $19-billion family office roll-up owned by a bank finally caught up with GenSpring The reasons seem to be many but an RIA managing and planning for a $5 million account is playing a much more one-dimensional game of checkers. The advisors managing $100 million accounts need to deal with more generations, more needs and more attitude. Systematizing all that has proven pretty impossible though US Trust, Northern Trust, Bessemer etc make a reasonable go at it with very institutional offerings. That said, this market remains damn tempting. So much wealth is concentrated at the top and the competition for the ultra-wealthy accounts is vanilla at best. But this article about Cresset underscores another aspect of the opportunity -- the sheer quantity of talent seemingly begging to be poached to a more energized environment for plying their trade. Cresset cracks the family office market with a unique proposition; a suite of touchy-feely services that go beyond money management and help clients manage their lives
Cresset Capital Management is back at shaking up the stodgy family offices with fresh faces -- as part of a hyper-ambitious effort to serve the ultra-wealthy nationally.
The Chicago-based family office hiring three new executives to take on the mission of addressing the kids of the dusty old family patriarchs and matriarchs.
Cresset Asset Management has more than $3 billion in assets under management. Since it was founded in 2017, Cresset has recruited more than 70 staffers across six offices.
Cresset the firm announced three new hires on Nov. 27 including naming Dan Terlep as senior managing director of financial and tax strategy. Previously, Terlep worked at Deloitte for seven years and also headed up a family office for nine years. Most recently, he was senior manager for RSM, where he led family office restructuring efforts.
In a previous article, RIABiz wrote that Cresset also has experts who can handle family coaching, family governance and leadership development, as well as family educational, family history and genealogy.
Cresset also announced that Tony McEahern is the firm's new senior managing director. He was most recently head of wealth planning for Wells Fargo's Wealth Management.
Wells Fargo spokesman Vince Scanlon confirmed McEahern left the firm in October. But he declined to comment on any other personnel moves.
Meanwhile, Joel Alberts has been named client advisor for the Midwest region and he also came from Wells Fargo as part of the Abbot Downing division. He will be working in the firm's Minneapolis office. Wells Fargo targets tempting but treacherous UHNW market with Abbot Downing launch
In addition to managing client relationships, he is experienced in working with closely-held business owners and addressing wealth transfer planning objectives.
Scanlon confirmed that Alberts left Wells Fargo in October.
Cresset Capital Management, founded by private equity entrepreneurs Eric Becker and Avy Stein, launched Cresset Family Office in August. Becker, 56, and Stein, 63, were both retired when they joined this venture together. They are listed with the company as co-founders and co-chairmen.
$50 million minimum with $25 million given a look
Wells Fargo targets tempting but treacherous UHNW market with Abbot Downing launch
The target client for the family office is families with more than $50 million in net worth but it'll consider lowlier clients with as little as $25 million.
“We think we can give them the types of family offices services and technology innovation that doesn’t exist in the marketplace today,” Michael Cole, CEO of Cresset's Family Office said in an earlier RIABiz interview. “This is a whole brand new venture and we’re going to build something brand new at Cresset."
These three executives will help the family office grow, said Cole in a statement.
"We could not be more thrilled to be welcoming the caliber of talent to Cresset Family Office that Tony, Dan and Joel represent," Cole said in the statement. "Along with the amazing team we’ve built so far, their deep experience and client-centric approach will add tremendously to our vision to reinvent the way people experience wealth.”
Baker and Stein emphasized in the summer that they wanted a team focused on clients. They both have maintained that clients deserve better than what is currently on the market and that's why they founded their firm.
In August, the firm hired eight executives all from well-known institutions.
It's only been months since Cresset jumped into the family office arena opening its doors in San Francisco over the summer. Cresset's goal is to offer a client-centric model featuring family coaching, family governance and family educational and family history topics.
On Nov. 27, the firm announced three new hires including naming Dan Terlep as senior managing director of financial and tax strategy. Previously, Terlep worked at Deloitte for 7 years and also headed up a family office for nine years. Most recently, he was senior manager for RSM, where he led family office restructuring efforts.
Story Timeline
Cresset Asset Management has more than $3 billion in assets under management. Since it was founded in 2017, Cresset has recruited more than 70 staffers across six offices.
In early August, Cresset announced it had hired eight more executives - all bankers.. The new additions are:
Scott Winget, senior managing director for family enterprise consulting, formerly senior vice president and senior managing director for wealth sustainability with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Melissa Donohue, senior managing director for family wealth education and leadership development, formerly senior wealth education specialist with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
How being a $19-billion family office roll-up owned by a bank finally caught up with GenSpring
Mark Foster, senior managing director for banking and credit consulting; formerly senior managing director, head of private banking with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Jan Farren, – senior managing director of marketing, communication, learning and development; formerly senior vice president and senior managing director of marketing and professional development with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Will Amerine, managing director of strategic partnerships, formerly managing director of strategic relationships at Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Martim De Arantes Oliveira, regional managing director, northern California; formerly regional managing director and senior vice president with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Sisi Tran, managing director, wealth strategist, northern California; formerly senior vice president, managing director, wealth strategy with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Tom Crotty, managing director, family office advisory, northern California; formerly managing director, CFO services with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
In early August, Cresset announced it had hired eight more executives - all private bankers and most of whom are private bankers lured from U.S. Bank in a raft.
The new additions are:
Scott Winget, senior managing director for family enterprise consulting, formerly senior vice president and senior managing director for wealth sustainability with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Melissa Donohue, senior managing director for family wealth education and leadership development, formerly senior wealth education specialist with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
Mark Foster, senior managing director for banking and credit consulting; formerly senior managing director, head of private banking with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Jan Farren, – senior managing director of marketing, communication, learning and development; formerly senior vice president and senior managing director of marketing and professional development with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Will Amerine, managing director of strategic partnerships, formerly managing director of strategic relationships at Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Martim De Arantes Oliveira, regional managing director, northern California; formerly regional managing director and senior vice president with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Sisi Tran, managing director, wealth strategist, northern California; formerly senior vice president, managing director, wealth strategy with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
Tom Crotty, managing director, family office advisory, northern California; formerly managing director, CFO services with Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank.
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