NorthRock Partners, a Minneapolis-based registered investment advisory firm, made headlines Tuesday when it hired recently-retired NBA All-Star Tony Parker to lead its sports, artists and entertainment division. Parker, 37, was one of the most recognizeable faces in the league, having won four NBA titles and a 2007 NBA Finals MVP during his 18-year career.
There is little doubt his high-profile and personal network will help elevate NorthRock as a firm. But for NorthRock founding partner and CEO Rob Nelson, hiring Parker wasn't a turning point as much as a validation.
NorthRock has 50 employees and advises on about $2 billion in client assets, and Nelson said he intends to double that in the next year. Through client referrals, new advisors, and acquiring other firms, he expects the RIA to reach $10 billion in the next three or four years.
That's an ambitious target. But hiring a high-profile advisor like Parker could, potentially, fuel that trajectory. According to Nelson, Parker was attracted to his firm's "personal office" approach, a full-service shop for high-net-worth clients that includes managing investments, taxes, insurance, bills, banking and even real estate. That approach requires a higher level of staffing than other firms that offer fewer services, Nelson said, and he sacrifices some profit margin to do it. But these kinds of services have, to his surprise, differentiated the firm. "I thought there were 100 of [firms like] us in Manhattan," Nelson said Wednesday while visiting New York.
It was the full-service approach that attracted Parker, Nelson said, who, as a player, could have as easily been a client of the firm. Parker was introduced to Nelson by a NorthRock client and the owner of an NBA team. In addition to atheletes, one-third of the firm's clients are professional money managers who are fully capable of organizing and paying their own bills, and executing on their own investment portfolios. But, similar to athletes, they are busy people who are happy to leave that task to others.
Nelson said he gets a call a week from other advisors who are interested in joining the firm. With a high-profile hire like Parker, interest may even increase. If so, reaching $10 billion in three years should be an easy layup.