US Fiduciary gains NYC alts specialist

FWR Staff

27 March 2006

Houston-based advisor-support provider continues rapid growth. Hedge-fund specialist David Zale has established a New York-based private-client advisory supported by US Fiduciary, a boutique wealth-management platform provider to high-end investment advisors and their clients. That gives US Fiduciary a bridgehead in Manhattan, a development in keeping with the fledgling firm's ambitious expansion plans.

"When we launched last year, we said we wanted to penetrate all five performance fee."

Fallen angels

Zale isn't sure whether US Fiduciary will use his bespoke hedge-fund-of-fund strategies to augment its growing alternatives platform, but it's at least in the realm of possibility, he says - it wouldn't be in connection with an overtly retail-oriented investment platform.

"A company like Merrill Lynch is restricted to dealing with the largest hedge funds," says Zale. "I believe I can look at a broader range of hedge-fund managers, including the some 'fallen angels'" - managers who have weathered bouts of underperformance and kept the to set their houses right. "The youngster working at Merrill wouldn't recommend those managers, but I really like the guys who have the back-bone to come back and do what's right."

Although the advisories supported by US Fiduciary aren't formally affiliated with one another, there is "an incredibly high degree of camaraderie between the offices," according to Palm Beach Gardens-based office owner Lyman. In part that stems from a desire to safeguard US Fiduciary's brand value, says Lyman; but for the most part it's a natural by-product of building a business on established and highly respected practitioners.

So though a New York advisory office supported by US Fiduciary might not mean much more to Lyman than occasional use of a Manhattan conference room and the ancillary benefit of "indicating to clients that the firm is vibrant and growing," the addition of Zale's business is "tremendous for the growth of US Fiduciary," says Lyman, and therefore a boon to all those associated with it. -FWR