Abbot Downing is part of Wells Fargo’s wealth, brokerage and retirement group and officially opened its doors two years ago. The move involved the combination of two existing Wells Fargo businesses: Lowry Hill and Family Wealth.

It targets the super wealthy - clients with at least $50 million in assets - and has four divisions: asset management, private banking, a combined trust and fiduciary service, and a group focused on family psychology and governance.

Wells Fargo also serves individuals with under $50 million through its private bank, while clients with between $100,000 and $5 million work with the broker-dealer unit.

Recent significant developments at Abbot Downing include the new office in New York City and the appointment of Dr Arne Boudewyn as head of family dynamics and education.

One interesting area of attention within the family dynamics team is on working with clients to understand their history and integrate their core values into wealth planning.

The move by Abbot Downing to introduce a Wells Fargo family history team in New York - and set up shop there - is indicative of a broader trend in wealth management, whereby firms are looking to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market. Focusing on the so-called “softer” elements of wealth - such as a family’s history - is one way of examining issues around legacy and governance, for example. 

The Wells Fargo Family History Center is based in San Francisco, CA, and provides clients with an archive of historical documents charting the geographic, social, economic, political, religious and cultural circumstances that shaped a family’s businesses, lives and reputation.

A successful first two years

Abbot Downing today has over 600 clients and has grown by 30 per cent since Wells Fargo announced the brand launch to $37 billion.

Family Wealth Report recently spoke to Paul Cummings, regional managing director in the Northeast, about the new office in NYC and some of the trends he’s seeing across the Abbot Downing business.

“It’s a natural time to open an office for Abbot Downing in New York City, since a key strategy and priority for us is to partner internally with the business units of Wells Fargo,” Cummings said.

“We look at New York City as very much a gateway city; a lot of people who reside in multiple locations do business in New York City. Having an office here is part of our growth strategy to expand in the Northeast.”

He added that the firm is looking to add a new relationship manager at the office.

Speaking about the Northwest and Abbot Downing as a whole, Cummings said the unit has been successful at onboarding “new new clients” since its launch.

Several clients have joined through introductions from other areas of Wells Fargo, while others are the result of client referrals.

Wells Fargo brand strength

According to an annual survey of 500 firms by Brand Finance, reported on this February, Wells Fargo remains the world's most valuable banking brand, valued at $30 billion .

By combining two existing Well Fargo business, Abbot Downing has been able - and continues - to capitalize on the brand strength of the wider enterprise while itself standing as more of a boutique firm, Cummings said.

For example, clients are given high levels of attention – with a client-advisor ration of 15:1 - and access to a range of services from across the Wells Fargo organization.

But it “doesn’t feel huge at its point of delivery,” Cummings said.

“One of the benefits we had was that we had an existing embedded client base around the country. We had the benefit of talking to and hearing from existing clients that were in the target space,” he added.

Indeed, launching a new business brand can be difficult in any industry, but certainly in a sector such as wealth management, where trust and security is paramount.

“People know who we are now…and our clients who have been with us for decades know that we’re older than two years in delivering services to large and complex families,” Cummings said.

Trends

Dr Boudewyn's appointment in February as head of family dynamics and education at Abbot Downing confirmed the importance of going beyond traditional financial services to help clients address the personal and social impacts of wealth.

Cummings also said he is seeing heightened appetite among some of Abbot Downing’s multi-generational families to educate the next generation and have the legacy intention of the prior generation carry through, for example.

Similarly, he’s also observed an increase in focus on “very purposeful philanthropy,” whether it’s methods of giving, determining how much to give over time, or creating and maintaining a mission.