FWR spoke to Michael Cole, president of Ascent Private Capital Management, about the genesis of the firm and its brand, the crucial elements of recruitment, and the importance of client segmentation.

Family Wealth Report recently spoke to Michael Cole, president of US Bank’s ultra high net worth unit - Ascent Private Capital Management - about the genesis of the firm and its brand, the crucial elements of recruitment, and the importance of client segmentation.

Ascent first opened its doors at the end of 2011 - so is a relatively new entrant in the UHNW space - and today counts around 80 client relationships with offices in Cincinnati, OH, Denver, CO, Minneapolis, MN, San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA. Cole said the firm is planning to open a sixth branch in San Diego, CA, early next year.

The firm serves individuals and families with at least $50 million in net worth, providing financial planning, investment management, private banking, personal trust and estate administration, information management and financial administration. Crucially, it also offers what it calls “strategic” wealth impact planning services that address family dynamics, family governance and risk management, education and preparation of heirs, leadership, communication and philanthropy.

And it’s growing at a very fast rate; last August, Bloomberg Markets magazine published a report on the family office sector – based on assets under advisement - naming Ascent as the second-fastest growing family office, having recorded a staggering 96 per cent growth in assets to hit $4.4 billion in AuA in 2013.

Genesis

The foundation of Ascent was to plug a “void” in the industry US Bank recognized at the time – that wealth management wasn’t just about money but the impact of wealth on things that matter to families.

This is a concept that has certainly gained ground in recent time, highlighted by a number of firms in the sector making bold moves to home in on, for example, family dynamics services, next-gen education and family history. Notably, Ascent brought in California-based historian, Karen McNeil, as head of family history in June last year – a move also made by Abbot Downing, Wells Fargo’s UHNW unit, last month.

Cole acknowledged that many wealth management players are sharpening their focus on the so-called “softer” – human and intellectual - aspects of the industry, but noted that it’s a question of “how they do it.” A firm setting up a family dynamics group or training its advisors to be more attuned to some of the communication issues is of course a step in the right direction.

“But what we believe we’ve done differently is that…we don’t see it as a separate division, we see it involved in everything we do,” he said.

Ascent has a “Center For Wealth Impact,” for example, comprised of individuals with backgrounds in traditional wealth management but also in areas such as organizational psychology, genealogy and curriculum design.

“They are all full-time Ascent employees who work as national resource to all of our five offices,” Cole said.

The Private Client Reserve

US Bank also has a unit dedicated to serving individuals and families with at least $1 million - the Private Client Reserve - with which Cole said Ascent is very collaborative with.

“One of the things we recognize is that there is a real benefit to segmenting clients around their needs and the types of services they require, as well as the client service experience they deserve and demand,” Cole said.

Echoing this, a recent global report by SEI, Scorpio Partnership and NPG Wealth Management noted that it’s becoming increasingly apparent that investors at various stages in their lives and levels of wealth look for different types of financial relationships. Moreover, many wealth managers would benefit from restructuring their client segmentation model to account for investor behavior patterns, SEI said in a recent paper.

“We’ve built a very mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship with the PCR and other business units within the bank. We are all about right client, in right channel,” Cole said.

“We’ve also found that because our client experience is distinctive, our current clients are one of the best sources for new clients. Because of the work we’ve done in gaining exposure, we’re also getting a lot of inquiries from people looking to learn more,” he added.

Hiring strategy

Wealth management has long been described as a “people’s business,” with recruitment and talent retention one of the biggest concerns among many players. According to a report by Family Office Exchange last November, finding and retaining talent has emerged as a family office’s top challenge when it comes to human resources.

When asked what he sees as some of Ascent’s main challenges at present, Cole pointed to recruiting and retaining quality professionals. In building the team at Ascent, he said about 20 per cent were connected to US Bank in some way, while 80 per cent came from other parts of the industry.

“It’s not easy to find people that are used to working with ultra high net worth clients with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. In addition to that, we’re in a changing and evolving world – there are so many different ways that wealth creation is happening and there are also differences among generations,” he said, highlighting that this is something the firm is paying close attention to.

“Dealing with a Millennial compared to a Baby Boomer is a challenge that all of us have to address,” Cole said. “The impact of technology has meant that the differences between someone who is in their 70s and someone in their 20s is broader then it ever has been because their experiences are so different.”

So overall on the hiring front, skills, experience and cultural fit are of course crucial characteristics, but Cole said that what he pays most attention to is that candidates display an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the “conceptual design” of the firm.

Brand

“We came up with the concept of Ascent Private Capital Management because we believe it’s about growing into the future,” Cole said.

Ascent won the best brand launch category at the inaugural Family Wealth Report Awards this March. For Cole, what brand strength has done more than anything for the firm is to attract the right team members, he said.

“That then gives us the opportunity to hire the best of the best in the industry. Brand can certainly help to get you a meeting with potential prospects or clients, but it’s not going to be the reason in my opinion why someone will choose to do business with you.”

Looking ahead, in terms of measuring growth, Cole said he prefers to thinks in term of revenue growth, not assets under management or advisement.

“There are many different ways we can engage with clients - it’s about delivering value. For example, there are lots of families that we work with where the predominant relationship is not about asset management but consulting on family education or helping them build a succession plan.”