Fast-growing Convergent Wealth Advisors has its sights set on increasing market share in New York and Los Angeles next year.

“The wealth management business in Los Angeles is incredibly fragmented. There’s no dominant player and a real opportunity to capture significant market share,” Steve Aucamp, Convergent executive director told Family Wealth Report. “We want to become the dominant player.”

Not coincidentally, Convergent’s owner, City National Bank, is based in Los Angeles and is known as a major lender to entertainment industry executives.

Convergent, which is headquartered in Rockville, Md., currently has ten professionals in its Century City office in Los Angles and plans to add five more in 2010, Mr. Aucamp said.

As a mature market with top-tier competition, New York is a tougher nut to crack, Mr Aucamp acknowledged.

But, he is quick to point out, “New York is clearly the wealth center of the country, and the opportunities are tremendous.”

“We’re seeing a lot of disgruntled advisers in their current positions, and clients are also aware of significant turnover,” Mr Aucamp said. “Many are also unhappy with service and performance and a lot of people are ready to move.”

Mr Aucamp, who has been interviewing advisers in New York this week, said he hopes to more than double the New York office’s full-time professional staff from four to ten next year.

But he cautioned that the process will be an arduous one.

“It could take up to six months to fill a position,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of candidates.”

Convergent also hopes to add staff in its Seattle and Atlanta offices next year, Mr Aucamp said, and eventually move into the Chicago and Florida markets.

Acquisitions are a possibility, he said, but adding individual advisors or small teams around the country are more likely.

Firm-wide, Convergent is looking for a 15 per cent growth in client-facing professionals in 2010, and 20 per cent revenue growth.

Last year the wealth management firm grew assets under advisement 25 per cent to $13 billion, Mr. Aucamp said.

Convergent has over $9 billion in assets under management.

Being a unit of City National has been “extremely helpful over the last 16 months,” Mr Aucamp said.

“Clients were looking for firms with solid financial backing and a strong parent company,” he said.

Convergent is targeting clients with at least $10 million in investable assets, and in 2009 the average new client had $60 million in assets, Mr. Aucamp asserted, while the average client overall has $45 million in assets.

Ultra-wealthy clients have been notorious for negotiating hard on fees this year, and Mr Aucamp acknowledged widespread fee and profit margin compression industry-wide.

But he maintained that negotiating has actually been “easier now.”

“Most of our clients are entrepreneurs,” Mr Aucamp explained, “and they understand the need for a business to make money and reinvest it to provide quality services and resources.”

He said he expected margins to improve across the board next year.

“The issue is how to scale growth profitability. You want to invest in technology without the commensurate number of additional employees to be able to increase margins.”