Seven Mile Advisory, a New York City-based multifamily office overseeing more than $1 billion in assets, has joined the Portland, Ore.-based tru Independence platform, the companies recently announced.
Founded by CEO Pamela Perskie, the Seven Mile team also includes Chief Operating Officer and wealth strategist Keith Feinberg, and Vice Presidents and client advisors Emily Herrup and Nicole Bellefeuille. Seven Mile provides a high-touch, outsourced family office for about 25 families of ultra-high-net-worth business owners, private equity and real estate investors and operators, professional athletes, and entertainers.
Upon launching her practice in 2019, Perskie was affiliated with and operated under the brand name of AdvicePeriod, a Los Angeles-based RIA that Mariner Wealth Advisors acquired in 2021. Although Mariner allowed Perskie to operate as Seven Mile Advisory, a brand name of her own choosing that references the happy times she and her family spent on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, she and her team had already decided to search for a new partner.
“We believe that we found the ideal fit with tru,” Perskie said in a news release. “They aim to provide us with exactly the type of individualized client experience that we extend to our clients.”
In an email, Perskie discussed her business and what set it apart from other family offices. She said she established her practice after working in the multi-family office business for nearly two decades.
“I saw that there was an opportunity to work with clients who led complex financial lives that required sophisticated solutions to manage them," she said in the emaik. "By rethinking the traditional multi-family office service model, fee structure, and technology tools, we could build something that more closely matched the evolution of the industry, while delivering a highly-customized, flexible service model offering our families what they needed.”
Perskie said that the typical multifamily office structure focuses on managing liquid assets, even though many families tend to have significant illiquid assets.
Illiquid assets include stocks, bonds, or any other investment vehicle that cannot easily and readily be sold or exchanged for cash without a substantial loss in value.
“We are set up to service our clients from generation to generation, whether they are invested in illiquid or liquid assets,” she said. “Often, the best planning opportunities are available when a client owns a business, real estate, private equity, or other illiquid assets. We work closely with our clients to plan a strategy that hopefully will build a firm financial foundation for generations to come.”
Noting that family office clients who lead extraordinary lives often need and expect out-of-the-ordinary services, Financial Advisor asked Perskie to describe some of the more unusual requests her clients have made, and how her firm’s new partnership with tru help her and her team better respond to them.
“Our role often goes beyond that of financial advisor to becoming a trusted confidant,” she said. “We review (prenuptial) agreements; advise on purchasing gold coins and other physical assets; consult on plans for the sale or purchase of a business, including a sports team; and discuss the financial advantages and disadvantages of changing citizenship. But while we offer niche, specialized advice to our clients, tru offers the same to service to us. That’s why we view them as an extension of our team.”
The affiliation will be mutually beneficial to both firms, according to the news release. Seven Mile is well positioned to support existing clients by leveraging tru’s compliance and family office services, as well as its cutting-edge technology, while tru will be able to strengthen its regional footprint in the northeast through its partnership with Seven Mile, and build on its growth during 2022, which reportedly brought more than $1 billion in new assets to the platform.
Amit Dogra, president and chief operating officer of tru, also responded for comment in a separate email. Financial Advisor asked Dogra how his firm’s “Experience as a Service” platform better served a multi-family office with a demanding clientele such as that of Seven Mile Advisory.
“Family office clients demand high touch, as well as advanced technology,” he said. “They need someone to be relatable to them and to their money. ‘Experience as a Service’ is the intersection of behavioral finance, fintech, and human capital, which makes it the ideal fit for a family office.”
With approximately $9 billion in assets, tru Independence provides a multi-custodial platform for established RIAs and breakaway advisors. Founded in 2014, the company offers business optimization support that encompasses technology, compliance, investments, and marketing.