Western wealth manager to funnel services through community bank chain. In an move calculated to deepen its footprint in the Southwest Contango Capital Advisors has acquired BG Associates, a wealth- and investment-planning boutique in Phoenix, Ariz. Contango is the wealth-management arm of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Zions Bancorporation.

The parties aren’t talking about the financial terms of the transaction. BG will take Contango’s name. Its former principals Jim O’Connor, Herman Lewkowitz, Tim Jones and Ted Churchill will form the core of Contango’s office in Phoenix with, O'Connor leading Contango's Arizona operations. The ex-BG team will work with Contango’s community-bank affiliate National Bank of Arizona.

Broader services

“Combining Contango's high-level analysis and access to sophisticated investment products with BG Associates' strong reputation and commitment to goal-oriented family investing allows us to bring a level of wealth management to Arizona that I believe is unparalleled in the state,” says Contango’s CEO George Feiger. “Add to this a seamless integration of banking services from National Bank of Arizona and the result is a powerful tool for clients to manage their financial lives.”

For O’Connor, the merger with Contango means access to a more sophisticated investment platform in addition to broadening the former BG team’s “capacity to advise in areas such as financial, tax and business-succession planning, as well as offer trust services.”

Beyond those benefits, O’Connor sees a strong cultural affinity between the merger partners, based largely on the two firms’ commitment to goals-based wealth management. “Contango and BG Associates are a natural fit,” says O’Connor. “We both begin our analysis of an individual or family's needs with their specific financial goals, and only after fully understanding these do we move forward to detailed planning.”

More clients

National Bank of Arizona CEO Keith Maio welcomes the prospect of introducing “a truly comprehensive suite” of private-wealth services to the bank’s commercial banking clients. “Our Executive Banking Program and related services are tailored to the kind of individuals and families [that] have significant wealth to manage and need the most sophisticated level of financial support to get it done right and fully enjoy the fruits of their labor,” he says.

Zions Bancorporation subsidiary National Bank of Arizona operates 53 branches in Arizona. Zions’ seven other small-bank subsidiaries have 112 branches in Utah, 91 in California, 75 in Texas, 72 in Nevada, 40 in Colorado, 23 in Idaho, one in New Mexico and one in Oregon.

BG, which has been in business since the early 1980s, manages about $308 million across 1,040 mostly private accounts, according to its last ADV filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Berkeley, Calif.-based Contango is only two years old. It declines to say how much it manages, advises on or administers on behalf of its clients. –FWR

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