Pepper Anderson had not taken a call from a recruiter in 22 years, but a call from Richard Chilton last November caught her attention.

An industry veteran, Anderson said she had been familiar with Chilton throughout her professional experience as an investor, but not knowing what her next step would be, she did not feel the urgency to pursue a move, she said.

But, this call was different. “I felt an open mindedness that I hadn’t experienced in the past,‘’ she said. “And over many months and many rounds of interviews, I got to know them personally and vice versa,’’ she said, referring to the leaders at the privately owned wealth management company.

With nearly three decades of experience in the financial services industry, Anderson on Tuesday was named president and CEO of the New York-based Chilton Trust, which has offices in Palm Beach, Fla., Stamford, Conn., Charlotte, N.C., and Wilmington, Del.

The firm has roughly 70 employees with $4.75 billion in asset under management.

She succeeds Garrison Likle, who will become vice chairman and continue to work closely with clients in support of their financial needs and long-term objectives, according to a prepared statement from the company. He will remain in the Palm Beach office where the firm’s fiduciary business is located.

“This leadership transition is part of a carefully planned for and calibrated strategy that we believe is necessary to continue providing our clients with the service and experience they expect. Pepper has the vision and leadership to advance what Gary and I have built and is the right individual to take Chilton Trust to even greater heights,” said Chilton, the firm’s founder, chairman and chief investment officer of equities.

Anderson, who began her career after college with Bear Stearns on the equity desk as an assistant, spent more than 20 years with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she most recently served as managing director and market manager for Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y. She held roles across a high net worth and fiduciary.

In her new role, Anderson said there are a few goals she would like to accomplish but she has yet to reveal them because “I owe Richard my 100-day plan as he refers to it, so I will keep the surprise in store,’’ she said.

In the meantime, though, she said between now and the end of the year she would like to hit the road and get to know clients and let them get to know her and spend time with them and listen to their feedback. Also, she said she would like to invest time in getting to know the team and making sure that she understands all their goals.

“My leadership style is one of transparency and partnership and that is consistent with the firm’s culture, so I think it’s expected of me as well.’’

“But I want to hear their feedback, get to know the team and I believe that we have a shared vision, but to the extent that I can use my perspective to bring some further detail to the vision, I will do that. I know our goal is to grow the firm but to do so organically through making sure that we are telling people about the great work we are doing and that we are doing it so well that clients are also telling the story for us,” she said.

One of the trends in the industry over the years, Anderson said, is the accessibility of information that has led to clients being increasingly better informed. “And that is leading them to be more hands on and give them a much more powerful seat at the table, which is terrific,” she said.

“I think it’s changing the tone of how we all in the industry need to operate. It needs to be more of a collaborative relationship with clients, focusing on educating them, helping them to communicate within their families and navigate some of the more complicated issues that come up,’’ she said.

Anderson pointed out that one of the things she has been hearing a lot about in the industry, and particularly when she was doing her due diligence about this new position, is there are a lot of entrance into the wealth management space from the institutional investing world.

But what’s interesting is to see what they do with it going forward … how they grow, whether it’s organic or whether it’s through an acquisition trend because I think we already have been seeing a lot of that  -- sales of firms and how that will impact culture and how it will lead people to think about size and breath of services. I think that will be interesting to see how that unfolds,’’ she said.

In addition, Anderson said the entrepreneurial opportunity of small and mid-sized firms is one that she believes will be an interesting one to see, particularly for more experienced advisors who know their client base and who want to exercise more independence in how they are operating day-to-day.

“I think that’s an interesting thing to watch and it is one of the most exciting elements for me,’’ she said. 

Chilton’s commitment to stay independent and to grow not principally through acquisition was one of the things that Anderson said attracted her to the firm. She also was impressed with Chilton’s philosophy on hiring.

“One of the things that really struck me in the beginning was Richard’s attitude personally. The only thing he cares about is getting the best person in any role,’’ she said “That’s all he wants to do and if you do that, by definition, the demographics of the firm will be reflective of the broader community, and that’s what I have observed,’’ she said.

“There is a really balanced senior-level staff, more than I have seen at any other firms and the most interesting part is it wasn’t an initiative,’’ she said, adding that many of the women in senior-level positions have been there more than 20 years.