Holding company continues incremental buy-up of San Francisco wealth firm. Boston Private Financial has taken a majority stake in Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough (BOS) The Boston-based wealth- and asset-management holding company bought 20% of BOS early in 2004, another 10% in August 2004, another 10% in August 2005, 9.7% last August and now 10.3%, giving it 60% of the San Francisco-based wealth advisory.

And there could well be more in store. Under an agreement between the firms, Boston Private has two more years to buy up to 70% of BOS.

Left alone

"The majority ownership of BOS by Boston Private will not change the way we run our business or manage our clients," says BOS' co-managing principal Carol Benz. "We run the firm, we make all the business and client decisions, but have the added benefit of access to support and resources when we need it."

Boston Private's western U.S. regional president Jonathan Parker describes the holding company's incremental buy-up of BOS as a process of "further anchoring our Northern California wealth-management presence."

Meanwhile BOS' "partnership with Boston Private has been an excellent platform for expanded growth," according to the firm's co-managing principal Bill Urban. "We have gained access to a wealth of resources and intelligence, both from the Holding Company and through the network of affiliate partners, which have been key enablers of our strong performance."

Boston Private has 14 private-banking, asset-management and investment advisory affiliates in New York, Florida, Washington, California and New England.

BOS manages about $1.8 billion, mainly for high-net-worth individuals. -FWR

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