In the three years since JPMorgan opened an office in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, its headcount has swelled to 30 advisors from six. When combined with its sister office in San Francisco, its number of advisors in Northern California has grown by 50 percent, to 110 people, since 2012.
The firm created separate teams based on how clients have built their wealth, said Jeremy Geller, the head of JPMorgan's Private Bank business in Northern California. Unlike other teams which may be more focused on investment ideas, the tech-centered team works on anticipating the personal financial consequences of one-time events such as a startup getting another round of funding, going public or selling the business altogether. Advisors discuss with young clients such issues as when to start selling a personal stake in a business, Geller said.
Advisors Try To Adapt
Advisors say they are working to adapt to the needs of tech workers who are skeptical that the wealth management industry offers much value.
Wetherby, 56, the independent advisor, finds herself having more conversations with clients who are unsure of how to handle their newfound fortunes at a time when income inequality is a larger part of the national conversation.
"For many of them, this is something that's private and new and separates them from their existing social group," said Wetherby. "It's a big adjustment and so a lot of them are trying to be quieter about it."
She also appeals to new clients by promoting so-called social impact investing, which tries to make money while also doing some social good such as buying shares in a company in the clean water business.
Darell Krasnoff, a partner at Los Angeles-based Bel Air Investment Advisors who plans to open a San Francisco office for the firm by the end of the year, said that the approach he takes with wealthy tech clients is similar regardless of their ages. He has won new clients like Kamran Pourzanjani, he said, by creating data-heavy custom reports that appeal to tech workers more comfortable with the language of numbers.
After the firm he co-founded, PriceGrabber.com, was acquired for about $500 million in 2005, Pourzanjani, 54, spent 8 years bouncing between financial advisors who did not present enough data to convince him. He eventually signed on with Bel Air, in part because Krasnoff was able to provide custom spreadsheets that allowed him to have faith that Krasnoff's plans were solid.
The idea of trusting a financial advisor with his wealth after spending years as an entrepreneur making all of his own decisions was a "giant leap," Pourzanjani said. "That's definitely a struggle for a lot of people" in the tech industry, he said.