Firm offers itself to high-net-worth families, foundations in search of CIO. West Conshohocken, Pa.-based Hirtle Callaghan has opened an office in Boston to serve present and future clients in New England. The wealth-management firm's CIO for the region is former State Street Global Advisors' (SSgA) manager Brian Gray.

"We are delighted to welcome Brian to the firm and to have him lead our growth in New England," says Hirtle Callaghan's CEO Jonathan Hirtle. "[He] is smart, experienced and sharply focused on serving his clients' best interests."

In a 16-year career at Boston-based SSgA and Boston-based investment advisory Pelagos Capital Management, Gary helped design allocation and investment strategies high-net-worth and institutional investors.

Get in the car

Hirtle Callaghan bills itself as a provider of CIO services to family offices, endowments, foundations and pension funds.

For ultra-high-net-worth families the difference between Hirtle Callaghan and most investment-consulting firms is in the depth of its approach, according to Gray. "A consultant's involvement is more episodic," he says. "We do everything from asset allocation and working with the money managers to cash flow and rebalancing as a full-time CIO. It's like if you're out driving and you ask for directions. A consultant will give you the directions; we get in the car with you and take you there."

Many of Hirtle Callaghan's family-office clients are connected with entrepreneurs "who probably could handle the investment side" themselves, if they weren't so pressed for time, adds Gray. Such clients, whether first-generation business builders or holders of multi-generational wealth, often have an intrinsic grasp of the CIO concept as it relates to the management of their own wealth.

Hirtle Callaghan has set up shop in Boston in response to the requests of several of its large New England-based clients, says Gray.

Though Gray isn't bringing a book of business to the table, he says he's well positioned to glean referrals to previous contacts. He's also hosting a conference for prospective clients in September.

Hirtle Callaghan has something like $14 billion in assets under direct supervision. In addition to its headquarters just north of Philadelphia and the new spot in Boston, it has offices in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix. -FWR

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