Ali Bayler (left), earlier this month joined New Republic, which is led by CEO Tom Hoops (right)
The competitive local wealth management scene has a new player jumping into the fray by way of the Tarheel State.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based New Republic Partners this month launched its first Richmond-area operations, with a goal of winning the business of the region’s upper crust.
The move was spurred by the firm luring veteran local advisor Ali Bayler, who is now a managing director at New Republic and will lead its expansion here.
Bayler was most recently with competitor Brown Advisory and Spider Management prior to that.
Tom Hoops, New Republic’s cofounder and CEO, said the three-year-old firm has been focused on expanding across the Southeast and decided to launch in Richmond when in order to bring Bayler into the fold.
“It’s all about finding the right talent… and that’s when we said ‘now we’re going to have a permanent presence in in Richmond,’” Hoops said of the firm’s recruitment of Bayler.
Hoops said Richmond and Virginia in general fits into the company’s growth plans for its concentration of wealthy families and institutions. It has followed a similar path as it has expanded from Charlotte to Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as well as Atlanta and Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
“The next phase is to take it out to a broader set of clients. That’s why we’re excited about Virginia and Richmond,” said Hoops, who was previously in executive roles with Legg Mason and Wells Fargo.
New Republic was funded out of the gate by two wealthy Southeast families: the Belks, known for their namesake department store chain, and the Springs-Close-Bowles clan, which made its fortunes in textiles.
Those two families seeded the firm with just over $1 billion in assets under management and it has since grown to around $2 billion. Hoops said it now has about 50 different families and institutions as clients. He said the net worth of those clients can vary but is typically in excess of $30 million.
“We’re not trying to be all things to all people,” Hoops said. “Our clients are a mix of multigenerational, complex families, founders, entrepreneurs, owners of private businesses and senior executives.”
With the two founding families remaining as co-owners and fee-based clients of New Republic, Hoops said the firm’s business model is to offer the same set of high-touch, customized wealth advisory services sought by a “family office” to a broader set of high-net-worth clients.
He said global financial trends have such clients increasingly wanting access to private markets that take their funds beyond traditional equity and fixed-income markets.
“Everyone shares the same access and gets the same opportunities, which is really powerful,” he said. “The reception from that segment has exceeded our expectations.”
For Bayler, she said she thinks the Richmond market fits nicely into New Republic’s model.
“Richmond is a great market because we have these families with multi-generational assets and these endowed foundations,” she said, adding that Richmond is also benefitting from an increasing number of wealthier folks moving to the region and newer generations of wealth are being formed here.
She wouldn’t comment on the size of the book of business she brings with her to New Republic.
A UVA grad, Bayler will be a one-woman show for New Republic in Richmond to start. In the near-term, she’ll be able to tap into the firm’s 30 overall employees while recruiting for talent in Richmond.
Hoops said the firm will eventually look for a formal office space in the region, but is focused first on letting locals know New Republic has arrived.
“Initially it’s about getting the word out and making sure we’re connecting with the right families, institutions and founders,” he said.
Bayler acknowledges she’s launching something new in what’s already a competitive market locally for investment advisory firms.
“It really comes down to relationships and building trust,” she said.
Others in the Richmond wealth management industry have also been in growth mode of late.
Dover Advisors, a year-old firm formed by a team that broke away from Atlantic Union Bank, recently expanded out of Richmond for the first time with a new operation in Atlanta.
Heritage Wealth Advisors for the first time in its 18-year history made an acquisition of another firm with a deal that gives it boots on the ground in Charlottesville.
Ali Bayler (left), earlier this month joined New Republic, which is led by CEO Tom Hoops (right)
The competitive local wealth management scene has a new player jumping into the fray by way of the Tarheel State.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based New Republic Partners this month launched its first Richmond-area operations, with a goal of winning the business of the region’s upper crust.
The move was spurred by the firm luring veteran local advisor Ali Bayler, who is now a managing director at New Republic and will lead its expansion here.
Bayler was most recently with competitor Brown Advisory and Spider Management prior to that.
Tom Hoops, New Republic’s cofounder and CEO, said the three-year-old firm has been focused on expanding across the Southeast and decided to launch in Richmond when in order to bring Bayler into the fold.
“It’s all about finding the right talent… and that’s when we said ‘now we’re going to have a permanent presence in in Richmond,’” Hoops said of the firm’s recruitment of Bayler.
Hoops said Richmond and Virginia in general fits into the company’s growth plans for its concentration of wealthy families and institutions. It has followed a similar path as it has expanded from Charlotte to Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as well as Atlanta and Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
“The next phase is to take it out to a broader set of clients. That’s why we’re excited about Virginia and Richmond,” said Hoops, who was previously in executive roles with Legg Mason and Wells Fargo.
New Republic was funded out of the gate by two wealthy Southeast families: the Belks, known for their namesake department store chain, and the Springs-Close-Bowles clan, which made its fortunes in textiles.
Those two families seeded the firm with just over $1 billion in assets under management and it has since grown to around $2 billion. Hoops said it now has about 50 different families and institutions as clients. He said the net worth of those clients can vary but is typically in excess of $30 million.
“We’re not trying to be all things to all people,” Hoops said. “Our clients are a mix of multigenerational, complex families, founders, entrepreneurs, owners of private businesses and senior executives.”
With the two founding families remaining as co-owners and fee-based clients of New Republic, Hoops said the firm’s business model is to offer the same set of high-touch, customized wealth advisory services sought by a “family office” to a broader set of high-net-worth clients.
He said global financial trends have such clients increasingly wanting access to private markets that take their funds beyond traditional equity and fixed-income markets.
“Everyone shares the same access and gets the same opportunities, which is really powerful,” he said. “The reception from that segment has exceeded our expectations.”
For Bayler, she said she thinks the Richmond market fits nicely into New Republic’s model.
“Richmond is a great market because we have these families with multi-generational assets and these endowed foundations,” she said, adding that Richmond is also benefitting from an increasing number of wealthier folks moving to the region and newer generations of wealth are being formed here.
She wouldn’t comment on the size of the book of business she brings with her to New Republic.
A UVA grad, Bayler will be a one-woman show for New Republic in Richmond to start. In the near-term, she’ll be able to tap into the firm’s 30 overall employees while recruiting for talent in Richmond.
Hoops said the firm will eventually look for a formal office space in the region, but is focused first on letting locals know New Republic has arrived.
“Initially it’s about getting the word out and making sure we’re connecting with the right families, institutions and founders,” he said.
Bayler acknowledges she’s launching something new in what’s already a competitive market locally for investment advisory firms.
“It really comes down to relationships and building trust,” she said.
Others in the Richmond wealth management industry have also been in growth mode of late.
Dover Advisors, a year-old firm formed by a team that broke away from Atlantic Union Bank, recently expanded out of Richmond for the first time with a new operation in Atlanta.
Heritage Wealth Advisors for the first time in its 18-year history made an acquisition of another firm with a deal that gives it boots on the ground in Charlottesville.