Advisory sees opportunities for working relationships with other firms too. Davie, Fla.-based Floridian Community Bank has appointed former National City Bank executive Lee Frankhouser as its director of wealth management, and retained start-up multifamily office Willow Street Advisors to provide wealth-management services to its customers.

"Our clients trust our integrity and professionalism, and many of them have left well known national banks and brokerages because they've gotten into so much financial trouble," says Frankhouser. "We wanted to be able to help them with wealth-management services with the same degree of excellence and care we exercise in helping them with banking and lending services -- [and] we wanted to make sure we aligned with a firm that shared our commitment to superior service and integrity."

These considerations made Willow Street Floridan's "logical choice," adds Frankhouser.

More than referrals

Willow Street's CEO Christopher Bray and its CIO Richard Stevens used to work with Frankhouser in National City's Private Client Group in Florida.

(Cleveland-based National City became part of Pittsburgh-based PNC at the end of 2008 -- shortly after Willow Street opened its doors in Naples, Fla., and in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.)

Willow Street's arrangement with Floridian "represents a more supportive level of working relationship than simply a referral service" and it's "very scalable," according to Bray. In fact, the multifamily office is in talks with a midwestern CPA and an RIA-in-the-making about providing similar services. It already provides wealth-management services to certain clients of Kearns Bray, a law firm operated by Bray and Willow Street managing director David Kearns.

"Affluent clients want advice and counsel that is independent and trustworthy -- advice that the big banks and wire houses have proven unable to provide," says Bray. "We look forward to helping Floridian Community Bank bring trustworthy wealth-management services to their existing and new clients."

Six-year-old Floridan has a branch each in Florida's Broward and Palm Beach counties. -FWR

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