“Within a firm like ours, we have many different specialties, so when we represent clients, we’re all working together toward their benefit.” —Richard Stone
In Private Ocean’s view, when “personal” meets “powerful,” its clients win. Formed in 2009 in the merger of Friedman & Associates and Salient Wealth Management, the firm combines three decades of planning and investing expertise with a deeply personal touch to create a distinct vision. The approach has earned Private Ocean this year’s award for Best Wealth Management Company.
“This is a great honor considering the number of excellent firms in the North Bay,” says COO Susan Dickson. “It confirms a goal that we set five years ago: To be recognized as one of the premier wealth management firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Private Ocean has already gained prominence on the national level by winning several other prestigious awards. Two years before it took its present form through merger, current company CEO Greg Friedman’s previous firm, Friedman & Associates, received the Schwab IMPACT Award for Best in Tech. More recently, founder and chairman Richard Stone was awarded the Schwab IMPACT Leadership Award for his significant contributions to the industry. The firm has also been listed as one of the top wealth management companies in the nation by Worth magazine seven times.
Besides an unwavering commitment to serving its clients’ needs, Private Ocean adheres to a rigorous, disciplined financial planning approach and is committed to partnering with the local charitable and educational community (it’s the primary sponsor of the Dominican University Leadership Lecture Series). The biggest key to the firm’s success, however, may be its innovative business model, which takes the traditional approach to wealth management and updates it to account for the complexity of the 21st century.
“We use a team approach and draw on the experience and expertise that each individual brings to Private Ocean, which is unique in the industry,” Stone says. “It’s difficult for any one person to have all the knowledge about something as diverse as wealth management. Take the medical field, for example. You may see a cardiac specialist for one thing and a neurologist for another—but you wouldn’t expect your neurologist to treat your heart condition.
“Within a firm like ours, we have many different specialties, so when we represent clients, we’re all working together for their benefit. Some of the larger institutional firms try to take the same approach, but the reality is that one person manages the relationship. At Private Ocean, we have a primary contact but lots of other people are involved with the clients, depending on their needs. Our team includes PhDs, MBAs, lawyers, accountants, mathematicians, physics experts, even engineers. Going back to the medical example, if you need heart surgery, you want all those skills represented at the table.”
Private Ocean has $800 million in assets under management and a uniquely qualified, institutional-quality investment team. “Our clients today are dealing with very complicated issues and complex situations,” says Stone. “The depth of sophistication that’s required now compared to 30 or 40 years ago is amazing. We don’t ask our clients to take what we’re doing on faith. We actually get into the mechanics of the process with them so they understand how we’re helping them manage their wealth.”
