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| Surviving the Sale |
A Decade of Deals
Harvey D. Shapiro
12/01/2003
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The following article is an excerpt from The 100 Year Plan series from the December, January, February and March editions of Robb Report Worth. To subscribe or to order back issues, please call (800) 777-1851 or order online now.
The first major multifamily office to put itself on the block was Boston’s Pell Rudman Trust Co., which was sold to United Asset Management in 1993 and then resold to Old Mutual, a South African insurance company, before finally ending up in 2001 as part of Amvescap, the Anglo-American investment-management firm. Amvescap merged Pell Rudman with Atlantic Trust, and now, like AMA, Atlantic Trust Pell Rudman focuses on clients with assets in excess of $25 million.
 Similarly, in 2001, Executive Monetary Compensation, a multifamily office started by several accountants, sold itself to money manager Neuberger Berman and became a vehicle for families with $25 million to $100 million in assets. That same year, Frye Louis Capital Management, a multifamily office in Chicago founded by descendents of Samuel C. Johnson, the Wisconsin wax magnate, sold itself to Credit Suisse. And last year, TAG Associates, a New York-based multifamily office created in 1983, sold a 50 percent interest in the firm to a group of investment bankers.
The pace of sales dropped in 2002 along with the share price of banks and money managers (stock is often the currency in acquisitions), but as the market has rebounded, interest in buying family offices has grown. "It’s well known that there were several others in play last year that have not yet sold; they haven’t found the right partner," says FOX’s Sara Hamilton.
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