Kochis Fitz/Quintile, the wealth management giant that formed earlier this year after the merger of two California firms, announced Monday that it changed its name to Aspiriant. Tim Kochis, the firm's chief executive officer, said the name derives from "aspire," or "aspirant," and is meant to convey two ideas: to clients, the company's goal to help them achieve their aspirations; to the new firm itself, aspirations for bigger and better things. And by adding an extra letter to make up a new word, it enables the firm to trademark the name "Aspiriant."
The firm comprises the former Kochis Fitz, founded in San Francisco in 1991, and Quintile, founded in Los Angeles in 2002. They formally merged on January 1. Combined, the new company has $5 billion in assets and is the third-largest independent wealth management firm in the U.S.
"We came to the conclusion to move away from our eponymous name with some initial fear and remorse," says Kochis, adding that the new name should help pave the way for the company to acquire additional firms after the merger is fully integrated. "Sometimes one of the obstacles to that (acquisitions) is that people are expected to give up their names," he says. "We've already done it, so if we can do it other firms can, too."
Kochis estimates the name change cost somewhere less than $100,000 after accounting for the hiring of two branding consultants with fortes in naming (the first one didn't work out well), another consultant to devise a new logo, and printing and public relations costs.
Kochis reports that the firm's integration process is proceeding more smoothly than expected, but that it's still ironing out some wrinkles such as getting enough face time between personnel in the two offices.
"It took us four months to have our first all-hands meeting," Kochis says.