Homrich Berg (HB), an Atlanta-based registered investment advisory firm with 80 advisors overseeing approximately $16 billion for more than 3,600 households and 375 institutions, has brought on a former managing director with Bernstein Private Wealth Management to expand and led the HB consulting stable. talent.
In the newly created role of chief advisor, Michael Woocher is joining HB as a director and will also work to develop the firm's next generation of advisors.
“I will help (HB president and CEO Thomas Carroll) and his leadership work with advisors within the firm to help HB grow into the future,” Woocher said. WealthManagement.com. “It's a great group of advisors that we have. I'll be really focused on helping them with their practices, but I'll also be working closely with Thomas to bring in new advisors, both organically and inorganically.”
Woocher noted that he and Carroll have worked together in the past and said he was intrigued by the firm's history and regional presence in the Southeast.
“The second part of my role will be working directly with a small group of families, which is very important to me,” he added. “A key part of my responsibilities at Bernstein was having a practice that I ran as well as leadership responsibilities within the firm. So when Thomas approached me with the role that we both combined direct client and leadership responsibilities, it was very appealing.”
Carroll said the rapid growth that Homrich Berg has achieved in recent years necessitated the creation of the role, noting that assets have grown by nearly $9 billion since he joined the firm in early 2020 as part of a transition planned. it succeeded founder Andy Berg as CEO in January.
“We've grown geographically,” he said. “We have offices now growing in the Southeast. We are adding advisors. We are inclined, more than ever, to inorganic growth. So we really needed someone to come in and be the leader of our advisory function, not just developing and training existing advisors and onboarding new ones, but really thinking about the customer experience holistically, the services we offer today . We want to make sure that we continue to improve in this regard, but we will also evaluate new services and new offers in the future to ensure that we are in step with market trends and dynamics.
“Michael will be able to help us do all of that, in addition to managing the clients he mentioned,” he said. “When he sits down with an advisor in the future, he'll be able to say, 'I'm walking in your shoes,' which will provide a lot of credibility in his role as a leader.”
Carroll also noted the previous professional relationship and said that default trust was a key factor in Woocher's successful recruitment.
All Homrich Berg employees are W-2, and about one-fifth are equity partners, a percentage the firm is working to increase. Acquired practices are offered with capital and are expected to adopt the Homrich Berg brand, investment “philosophy”, technology stack and client approach, but may retain operations locally. After selling a minority stake to growth-oriented private equity firm New Mountain Capital two years ago, HB secured $75 million in debt financing due in 2022. Carroll said WealthManagement.com he doesn't anticipate needing additional capital anytime soon, but he never said so.
HB is staying focused on growing its regional footprint, according to Carroll, with Florida a strategic priority.
“We have a great team in Florida, but we don't have a business yet,” he said. “So I think you can expect HB to invest more in building our business there over the next year or so.”
After hiring a trusts and estates attorney in 2023, Carroll said there are no plans to add any new services in the coming months. “But we will continue to evaluate as we go forward,” he added.