US Bank Launches new Family Office Initiative

Stephen Harris

8 November 2005

Wilmington Trust has set up a family office business for the East Coast of the US and has appointed Benjamin Ledyard to head the initiative. Mr Ledyard has been with Wilmington Trust since 1998, serving as a managing director and senior private client advisor and has worked closely with the firm’s ultra high net worth clients. “Our goal is to be the wealth advisor of choice for high net worth individuals and families and the professionals who counsel them,” said Rodney Wood, head of Wilmington Trust’s Wealth Advisory business, in a statement. He added: “Providing comprehensive family office services is integral to that strategy.” Wilmington Trust formally entered the family office business in 2004 when it acquired Grant Tani Barash & Altman, a business management and family office services firm based in Beverly Hills, California. “With Mr. Ledyard’s appointment, Wilmington Trust is moving to further leverage the capabilities it gained with the GTBA acquisition,” the firm said in a statement. Wilmington said the new family office would be functional in early 2006 and be based near the firm’s headquarters in Delaware.