This news service talks to senior wealth management figures at the Illinois-headquartered business.

When Chicago-headquartered Calamos Investments added senior executives to its wealth management business in June, it was an example of how this firm is increasingly flexing its muscles inside and outside the US.

And Calamos Wealth Management’s embrace of an open-architecture approach to the services and products it puts before clients is all part of focusing on independent advice, John Campbell, chief wealth strategist and head of wealth planning and trust services, Calamos Wealth Management, told this publication. A number of his senior colleagues, including Jon Adams, who joined as chief investment officer, and Joe Weidenbach, also spoke to FWR about its approach.  

Calamos Investments was founded by US financial sector figure John Calamos, Sr in 1977. Mr Calamos created his own family office and foundation and the investment business runs the family money. The wealth management business – structured as a registered investment advisor – was established in 2007 to handle the complex wealth management needs of Calamos himself and that of other high net worth clients. 

An important feature of the wealth business is that the investment solutions and offerings aren’t only those from the Calamos stable but are sourced from outside investment management providers, as well, in an open architecture model, Campbell said. Mr [John] Calamos is an expert on areas such as convertible bonds and other parts of the alternative investments space. 

Along with many of its peers, Calamos operates at a time of continued pressures on wealth managers' margins from rising client demands, regulatory compliance costs, and an inflationary environment. One of the consequences of this has been a raft of M&A activity, along with trends such as outsourcing functions such as technology, back-office support, and investment management.

Medium-term outlook
FWR asked Joe Weidenbach, head of Calamos Wealth Management, what is the medium-term business growth strategy of Calamos Wealth Management? Is this a business that is interested in inorganic as well as organic growth? 

“In the medium term, we are focused on prioritizing organic growth by leveraging our expanded service offerings to our existing clients and our extensive referral base. In the future anything is possible with respect to inorganic growth, but we have such tremendous opportunity for expansion for organic growth that is our priority,” Weidenbach said. 

The firm serves different types of client, both foreign and domestic, varying from mass-affluent to ultra-HNW, as well as institutional customers. 

"Our tailored approach lends itself well to meeting the needs of a wide range of clients. Many of our clients are business owners and others come to us for our expertise with concentrated positions," Adams, said. 

Campbell described the style of the business: "In keeping with the services we provide to Mr Calamos, his family office, and foundation, CWM provides a team-based "family office" style access to investments and advanced level planning solutions to clients.” 

Weidenbach was asked if the Naperville, Illinois, HQ and strategically located Chicago office gives an important Midwest client anchor.

“Our roots and our culture are Midwest but our reach is coast to coast, and even international. We work with domestic and global clients to address their complex wealth needs and leverage, as necessary, our network of subject matter experts,” he responded.

There has been much recent commentary about alternative investing and private markets. What does Weidenbach think of this financial climate?

“With the rise in interest rates, we actually think alternatives are even more compelling. Many private credit strategies are based on floating rates and have very low duration (interest rate exposure). With the back up in rates, we are seeing senior secured private credit yielding 10 to 12 per cent – quite attractive,” he said. “We use a custom approach for each client regarding alternatives. For some of our affluent clients, a 10 per cent exposure may provide solid diversification and return enhancement, while a 30 per cent exposure may make more sense for an ultra-HNW client. We educate our clients on these types of instruments and ensure they understand potentially illiquidity risks, fees, and time horizon of the investments.” 

We have to talk about tax
With a national election in November 2024, how much of this is a discussion point with wealth management clientele?

“Taxes are an important consideration from an investment perspective. Many of our clients come to us for our expertise in managing concentrated positions – generating income from them, protecting downside, and diversifying away from them. We look to do all of this in a tax-efficient way to minimize taxes on gains. We have other strategies on our platform that combine wealth planning and investment considerations, like Qualified Opportunity Zones,” Adams said.