One of the largest financial groups in the US is pushing harder at the family office market.

Charles Schwab, the brokerage and financial services group, is ramping up its efforts to serve the family offices industry, a move that pits it against the likes of Fidelity Investments.

The San Francisco-headquartered firm recently appointed Eddie Brown as national managing director, head of Schwab Advisor Family Office, taking up that role in March. From October 2009 to March this year he worked at Fidelity Family Office Services, based in San Francisco, according to his Linkedin profile, and prior to that, was a director at the Wealth Advisory Resources business of Morgan Stanley, and prior to this, worked for more than nine years at Citigroup. 

“We are pleased to welcome Eddie Brown to Schwab Advisor Services as Vice President, Schwab Advisor Family Office. Eddie brings a wealth of experience to his role overseeing the Schwab team providing custody solutions and business support for independent advisors serving family office clients,” Jon Beatty, senior vice president, sales and relationship management, Schwab Advisor Services, told this publication in an email.

The firm is advertising, for example, for a “family office strategist, advisor services”, which is a sales and business development post and it says it is seeking people with multiple years of experience in such fields, according to a publication seen by Family Wealth Report. Positions are available in Phoenix, AZ; Orlando, FL, and Westlake, TX. The job description said: “The Family Office Strategist provides dedicated relationship and consultative support to our family office advisors and their ultra-high net worth (UHNW) end clients.”

Another position advertised is for a relationship specialist, family office services. Another document seen by FWR said “Schwab is building out their family office capability”, saying that this area of business opportunity had been first identified by the firm as far back as 2007. That document said it currently has seven family office roles of different types in the US.

The firm did not comment on those details. 

Rising wealth, and a proliferation of family offices in North America, has galvanized such growth. With family offices of a certain scale looking to outsource certain activities and get help with areas such as technology, businesses such as Schwab and Fidelity are seeking to develop capabilities in this space. 

Fidelity recently issued a survey of remuneration and talent management in the family offices space (see here).