Rockefeller has quickly become a preferred destination for wirehouse teams seeking comfort in both name and location when it comes to servicing clients and hitting the recruiting bid. Whether it is NYC, LA, and even Florida – Rockefeller and its President and CEO, Greg Fleming, are resonating in the deep end of the wealth management pool. Having already added better than $4 billion in client assets in 2020, we spoke to sources at Rockefeller that claim the firm is about to significantly add to that number.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, our sources told us that Texas has been a geographic ‘press point’ for the firm; specifically, Houston and Dallas. Here is what one of our internal sources had to say:
“We do expect strong movement to our brand in Texas in the second quarter and beyond. We already have had success there, but our pipeline tells us that we could double assets, headcount, and annualized revenue in money center cities (Houston, Dallas) there. We’ve focused resources there and the dividends are about to come in.”
When asked other geographic locations that could see significant upside in Q2 the narrative was similar, albeit located elsewhere on the map:
“We expect the momentum to continue in NYC and on the west coast in LA as well. The narrative here in the city (New York City) is simple and clearly the brand resonates with native New Yorker’s and east coast advisors. But we want to make sure that a like-minded message goes both deep and wide across the US. We like our pipeline in LA and San Francisco currently and expect to put wins on the board in each location as 2020 moves forward.”
Speaking to a recruiter who is heavily involved with the Rockefeller brand he mentioned something unique about announcements on the way, “…the name is really, really hot…and you wouldn’t think so, but the current market sell-off and increased volatility is only going to serve to speed up recruitment’s rather than slow them down. Rockefeller is uniquely poised to benefit from that potentially short-term dynamic given the comfort with which advisors find with their culture and platform. And, yeah, I can confirm the pending movement in Texas – expect it to make headlines and to really build momentum for the rest of 2020 in that region for them.”
A case could be made that Rockefeller is making a long-term play to become a wirehouse. Is it so ridiculous to believe that twenty years from now a name like Rockefeller could be mentioned right alongside Morgan Stanley? Nope. Smart move Mr. Fleming, smart move indeed.
