Massey, Quick & Co., a Morristown, N.J.-based wealth manager with roughly $1.5 billion in assets under management, is looking to acquire firms with $100-300 million in assets under management and opportunistically pursue team lift-outs. “Many of the smaller firms have realized that their growth is probably capped and they can do a better job for their clients and not have to worry about the business side,” Stewart Massey, founding partner and cio, told PAM. The buying spree comes as the firm sees opportunity to expand nationwide. The firm will be funding the acquisitions internally.
The firm is particularly focused on independent cultures similar to multi-family offices, as they would fit best with Massey’s model, said Massey, adding that larger firms would also be considered. Massey, Quick, which formed from the Massey and Quick family office in 2004, services clients with an average account size of $15 million. The firm has brought on four executives this year, including Jack Kemp, former president and ceo of Morgan Stanley Asset Management Distributors, as partner to run the Vero Beach, Fla., office (PAM Daily, 5/8).
Massey, Quick is also planning to roll out its inaugural print advertising campaign to get the word out to potential new business. It recently launched a new Web site to attract clients and has brought on Bob Ward as a dedicated marketing specialist (PAM Daily, 5/8). The print campaign, for which the firm hired an outside consultant, is set to debut sometime in the fall in regional and national print publications. “Up until now, our firm has just been word of mouth and we’ve made the decision to get out there more aggressively,” said Massey. The theme of the campaign and budget has not yet been determined.

On Investing
The firm is allocating the largest part of clients’ portfolios to long-short equity and is looking into credit via distressed debt and long/short preferred stock. Massey declined to provide specifics regarding allocation, as each portfolio varies greatly. The firm uses only outside managers across all asset classes. “We tend to use ‘old pilots’ or managers that have demonstrated the ability to add value over multiple market cycles,” said Massey. Additionally, the firm is looking for managers with strong risk management procedures, a business continuity plan and state-of-the art technology. The firm insists on independent pricing of clients’ portfolios by a third-party custodian or administrator.
Fixed income is at the core of many portfolios and when it comes to hedge funds, the firm will not employ managers that use leverage or managers that have their own broker-dealer, said Massey. He also noted that even though the firm started out by catering to ultra-high-net-worth clients and families, it also consults foundations and endowments that came to them via their UHNW clients. Uniquely, the firm still runs the family wealth for all of the firm’s five partners, investing side-by-side with clients.
–Kristen Oliveri