Stone & Youngberg veteran takes the helm of firm's high-net-worth business. Fixed-income distributor Stone & Youngberg has put Thomas Lockard, already a managing director and a member of the firm's executive committee, in charge of S&Y Asset Management (SYAM), its wealth-management unit.

"S&Y Asset Management grew out of feedback from our current clients who have requested that we manage a greater share of their assets," says Ken Williams, president and CEO of Stone & Youngberg. "By appointing Tom Lockard, a successful investment banker and a proven member of our management team, to lead SYAM, we are making a substantial investment in the growth of our asset management business."

As smart as the market

Lockard has been with Stone & Youngberg since the start of his career in 1984. As head of SYAM he will be responsible for expanding SYAM's product roster and bringing in new clients.

Under Lockart, SYAM will take a brass-tacks approach to wooing new business. "Intelligent investors are not interested in gimmicks or programs that try to outsmart the market," he says. "Instead, it's about being as smart as the market and then leveraging that knowledge to make prudent investment choices that yield results for our clients."

Lockard will work with senior investment strategist Scott Whitcher, investment strategist Nick Ellis, former Fisher Investments senior v.p. Chuck Else, who will lead SYAM's sales efforts, reporting manager Andrew Flurry and fund administrator Evan Walker.

Whitcher says that SYAM's independence means it can provide "unconstrained financial guidance" to its private and institutional clients. "We have a comprehensive approach that considers a client's entire portfolio in the full scope of the marketplace," he says. "What's more, SYAM offers individual investors a host of services formerly available only to institutional clients."

Stone & Youngberg has been around since 1931. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has additional offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Richmond, Va., and Annapolis, Md. -FWR

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