Balentine Utilizes Milestone Growth to Enhance Client Experience
Balentine, a leading independent wealth management firm, announced today that its assets under advisement have reached over $6 billion, a 100% increase in just three years. As a firm that has always been committed to innovation and improvement, Balentine’s milestone growth has enabled significant new investments in talent, technology, and resources which will increase simplification for clients to assist them in making the best decisions for their families and businesses.
Investments in Talent
To ensure its clients continue to receive the highest level of personal attention and service as the firm continues to grow, Balentine added six new positions to its team in 2021, for a total of 48 employees, and has approved 11 more positions to add by the end of 2022. The firm has recently invested in personnel in the following areas:
- Operations. Jennifer Dangar has assumed the position of Chief Operating Officer. Dangar’s highest priority is to improve upon Balentine’s operational platform so that Balentine may maintain its high level of client service as the firm continues to scale and grow. Balentine strives to remain an employer of choice in its industry by cultivating a culture where motivated people flourish. To this end, Dangar will implement a human resources strategy to continue attracting the best and brightest talent.
- Wealth Management. Bradley Martin, CPWA®, a seven-year veteran of the firm, has been promoted to Head of Atlanta Wealth Management. Martin’s mission includes helping Balentine’s clients draw the maximum benefit from its growing stable of subject-matter experts and ensuring exceptional client service and a low advisor-to-client ratio as the firm grows.
- Estate Planning, Trusts, and Lending. Relationship Manager Clifton Dortch, J.D. holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Taxation. In addition, Balentine has recently brought in team members with expertise in estate planning, trusts, and lending. Their knowledge has allowed Balentine to strengthen the strategic planning advisory capabilities it offers to clients.
Investments in Technology
On the technology front, Balentine invested in Addepar, widely considered the industry’s most scalable data aggregation and performance reporting platform. This will make it easier for clients to always have a pulse on their entire financial picture.
To simplify processes and capture cost savings for clients, Balentine introduced an in-house trading platform, led by new Head of Trading, Kenneth Jackson. As a result, clients now enjoy lower trading costs, better execution, consolidated account operations, and improved tax management capabilities.
Investments in Resources
Recognizing the need for healthcare planning guidance, Balentine partnered with Bernard Healthcare Financial Planners to assist clients and their loved ones in navigating health insurance and Medicare decisions. Now, clients may meet with a healthcare advisor and receive a customized healthcare plan recommendation at no cost.
Under the leadership of Balentine President Brittain Prigge, CFA, Balentine continues to focus on deepening relationships with, and broadening the services it provides to, its Family Office clients with needs that stretch beyond investment management to the more complex topics of wealth and legacy.
Finally, Chairman Robert Balentine and CEO Adrian Cronje, Ph.D., CFA released their book First Generation Wealth and led a series of events to help wealth creators think through what it takes to build a meaningful legacy and best support future generations.
The Value of a Client-Centered Approach
Since Balentine was founded, leadership has committed to constant improvement and servitude to clients. As evidence that these efforts are resonating, Balentine has grown rapidly in the past year, reaching over $6 billion in assets under advisement. This revenue growth encompasses both new clients and existing clients who have consolidated their assets and entrusted them to Balentine.
“Reaching over $6 billion of assets under advisement, just 12 years after our founding, validates our client-centered approach to wealth management, and underscores the trust our clients have placed in us,” said CEO Adrian Cronje, Ph.D., CFA “But we’re far from done growing and strengthening the firm for our clients’ benefit.”
The Value of Independence
Across the country, wealth management firms—including many in the Southeast—are rapidly consolidating. What’s more, private-equity firms have established a significant ownership presence in the industry. Balentine is independent and answerable only to its clients and its employees, and it intends to stay that way. The milestones mentioned above are just part of its larger vision: to build and continually strengthen a world-class wealth management firm that will be here for generations to come.
Media Contact: Liz Thomas, lthomas@balentine.com
Balentine is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Balentine’s investment advisory services can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request.
For more important disclosures visit www.balentine.com/disclosures
