The Presidio Group has taken on 27-year investment industry veteran Thomas Smith as managing director within its capital advisors unit. Smith is tasked with launching an office in Chicago.

The new office will open later this month at 155 North Wacker Drive. Mark Palmer, head of the capital advisors unit, said the firm expects to hire additional advisors and staff for the office over the next 12-18 months.

Chicago is an “outstanding market with sophisticated entrepreneurs and institutions throughout the Midwest,” said Brodie Cobb, chief executive.

“What Presidio delivers to every client is usually available only to those with $100 million or more at larger organizations,” Smith said. “Its model is straightforward: deliver preeminent research and truly objective advice to clients, and avoid the conflicts of managing money and selling products that often plague banks, brokerages, and investment firms.”

In his new role, Smith will be joined in the Chicago office by Dan Keck, who started at Presidio three years ago from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.

Smith joins from Northern Trust, where he was a senior vice president within the personal financial services unit. There, he served as managing director of family wealth services and was a member of the executive management team for the bank’s wealth management business.

Earlier in his career, Smith held positions with The Chase Manhattan Bank, Advisers Capital Management, and GE Capital Corporation.

In other recent developments, Presidio Group launched an investment advisory service for endowments and foundations in April. The service is led by Peter Stein, who joined the firm from Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company. 

The firm has $4 billion in client assets, and runs investment banking, private equity, and capital advisory units through its offices in San Francisco, CA, Dallas, TX, and Chicago, IL.