UHNW advisory carves out new job description for "chief development officer". Multifamily office Threshold Group has hired Brian Hughes as its head of business development, effective 1 June 2008. He'll be based in Threshold's headquarters in Gig Harbor, Wash. This means he'll be moving from the Philadelphia area, which is where his former employer, the multifamily office Pitcairn, is based.

Hughes "understands the care and thoughtfulness required when creating a new fit between families and a professional family office," says Threshold's president Ed Lazar. "He understands our qualitative approach to business growth and will help us offer select families a tailored process for achieving what's next in their lives."

Growth

However qualitative Threshold's approach to growth may be, it has been ramping up rapidly. It began in 1999 as the family office of Frank Russell Company founder George Russell. It became a commercial family office in 2003 -- about four years after the Russell family sold its manager-of-managers business (now Russell Investment Group) to Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual -- and changed its name to Threshold in 2004.

At mid-year 2005 it was advising five families on about $1 billion. By last fall it had about $6 billion under advisory for 11 families across 46 households; the latest tally is 13 families across 50 households. A couple of years ago Lazard said Threshold was aiming to bring in two or three families a year until it was working with about 40 of them.

As Threshold's chief business development officer, a new position in the firm's heirarchy, Hughes "will work closely with the firm's executives, board members, relationship managers, peer groups and industry contacts" to "cultivate client relationships," according to a press release.

Hughes was also in charge of business development at Pitcairn, where he had worked since 2004. Before that he spent about 15 years with Philadelphia-based Lincoln Financial Advisors , including a stint as a St. Louis, Mo.-based regional CEO for Lincoln and its SagemarkConsulting subsidiary.

Aside from its base in Gig Harbor, Threshold has offices in New York City and Portland, Ore. -FWR

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