For example, they don't pay bills or organize vacations for clients. But they do a lot of estate planning work in terms of ideas and structure, and then will work with attorneys to implement it. And they'll provide other services, too.

"If a client is buying a house, we'll help them structure how to buy it," Bracaglia says. "That doesn't fit into the definition of what we do under our contract, but it's consistent with what we do from a practical standpoint. We pride ourselves as being investment advisors who practice the business from a financial planning perspective. That's why we like being face to face with them, because we want to know what's going on in their lives.

"I can't do my job correctly unless I'm hearing what you're saying and seeing how you're saying it with your body language," Bracaglia continues. "What makes a good financial advisor is the ability to understand the psychology of their client, and I think the only way to do that is to see it."

That type of service has produced very high client retention rates, as well as hot leads when it comes to client referrals. Lees says myCIO closes more than 90% of its prospect opportunities. "When we get called into a potential new client opportunity, it's because it's typically the result of a referral from a well-respected corporate CEO, CFO and chairman," he says. "It's a gold star in terms of seal of approval."

Says Bracaglia, "It's a steady referral that's not overwhelming because we want to preserve our high-touch service. It's a good pace that lets us keep growing."

Team Effort
Each of the three partners has his own team underneath him, consisting of senior managers, analysts and others. "I'm part of Team Lees, if you want to call it that," says Henry, who adds he learned the business under Lees and currently does a lot of client management work for Lees' clients.

And Henry has his own clients, too. He has five analysts working under him who are assigned to certain clients, and those analysts intimately learn those clients' finances so they can answer questions if Henry isn't immediately available.

Henry, 33, is one of five senior managers who've moved through the ranks, have direct client-facing roles and are considered the next tier of leadership at myCIO. Another one is Phil Bonelli, 36, who came to myCIO as part of Bracaglia's team at PwC.

"I deal with about 60 clients, and I know everything about their financial picture without having to look at a computer screen," Bonelli says, adding that one-third of those clients are his own and the other two-thirds are Bracaglia's.

Bonelli hopes to attain partner status in three to five years. "Five is probably more realistic," he says. "It takes time to build a sizable enough book of business."