Bernstein "was a great place to learn the business," says co-founder Marc Channick, "but all three of us had independently come to the decision that we wanted to work in a more independent framework and over time figured out we had a similar philosophy about how we wanted to work with clients and the natural inclination was to open up our own firm."
He says many of the clients who came with them are loyal and pleased with the performance and service and used to fees for service. These clients and the group's extended professional circle have referred much new business.
"They've made a number of referrals to the professional community here in San Diego and throughout the area-a lot of attorneys and accountants. It's exclusively by referrals, so it's the clients or other professionals. Those relationships have paid off given the discomfort with what's going on in the business."
He says the firm set itself up to resemble a mix of an institutional consultancy and a family office for clients with $2 million to $25 million in liquid assets. "I think when you're a family with $100 million, $200 million or $500 million you usually have that separation between product and advice through a consultancy or family office," he says. "We took that framework and brought it down to a population that we think is primarily serviced by the big banks and brokerages, where there really is a product-oriented basis to the relationships-whereas we are obviously completely focused on advice. So we think that's a great niche for us."
Another relative newcomer to the list is Banyan, which launched in 2008 after its founder, Peter J. Raimondi, decided to pursue a boutique investment management strategy and focus less on financial planning. To become more of a national asset management firm, it has been acquiring other managers. In early 2009, at the bottom of the market, the firm acquired Oaktree Asset Management in New York, and in January 1 of this year it doubled its size with two more firms, Colonial Wealth Management in Boston and Weiss Capital Management, a firm down the street in Palm Beach Garden offices.