Wealth Management

Wealth management services are exploding in the Washington area, where at least four financial firms have expanded their offerings in the past four months. Last week, for instance, Bank of America said it hired 35 financial advisers in the greater Washington area in recent months to cater to customers with assets worth between $50,000 and $250,000. The hires are part of a nationwide effort that has doubled the number of advisers to more than 1,200 in the past year. The bank, which has 8 million of these customers nationwide, also...

Companies Alion Science and Technology of McLean appointed Alex Heidt senior vice president and manager of the company's acquisition programs management group. Crestline Hotels & Resorts of Fairfax appointed Vicki Denfeld executive vice president of sales and marketing. Dewberry of Fairfax appointed Ryan Hughes principal consultant of cloud services. FaegreBD Consulting of the District appointed Mary Bono Mack , former congresswoman in California's 45th District, senior vice president.

With some 100 branches from Arlington to Woodbridge, BB&T Corp. has a pretty firm foothold in Northern Virginia. Dan Waetjen, however, sees room for expansion. The bank's group president for Greater Washington isn't so much focused on creating a broader network of sites. Instead, he is keen on growing the wealth management and private banking division to serve Northern Virginia's affluent populace. "There is no shift in strategy, our strategy is as sound as it can be," Waetjen said.

After two years of struggles with its wealth management business, Cardinal Bank announced this month that it is scrapping its trust business and consolidating the other parts of its wealth management services. The idea, the bank says, is to move away from institutional clients and focus instead on providing specific services to individuals and business owners. "We were dabbling, and you can't really dabble in anything — it just doesn't work," said Bernard Clineburg, chairman and chief executive of the Tysons...

After two years of struggles with its wealth management business, Cardinal Bank announced this month that it is scrapping its trust business and consolidating the other parts of its wealth management services. The idea, the bank says, is to move away from institutional clients and focus instead on providing specific services to individuals and business owners. "We were dabbling, and you can't really dabble in anything — it just doesn't work," said Bernard Clineburg, chairman and chief executive of the Tysons...

NEW YORK -- Citigroup Inc. said Monday it is switching to a fee-based model in its retail investment business, eliminating commissions for its 600 in-house financial advisers by the end of next year. The shift is an effort to provide clients with more transparency, Deborah McWhinney, head of Citi Personal Banking and Wealth Management, said in an interview. "Investors are getting very engaged in what they're doing," McWhinney said. In addition to switching to a fee-based model, Citigroup plans to...

Tom Raffa is a peripatetic sort who sees business opportunities in everything. Then he acts on them. Restaurants. Wealth management. Human resources. A frozen yogurt shop. Insurance. Nonprofit consulting. Accounting. Executive recruitment. Coffee bars. Raffa is just one of those people who are always on the hunt for investments. Not everything he has touched has been successful. There was that pension-consulting firm that imploded. His try at online bill paying was a misfire.

Treasury secretary nominee Jack Lew has spent most of his career in government, but during the financial crisis, he was embedded inside one of the country's biggest banks as it nearly imploded. From 2006 to 2008, he worked at Citigroup in two major roles, a notable line in his résumégiven that as Treasury secretary, he would be charged with implementing new rules regulating Wall Street. But Lew did not have just any position at the bank. In early 2008, he became a top executive in the...

A storied wealth manager founded by the Du Pont family, Wilmington Trust of Delaware has long boasted an impressive list of high net worth clients, a number of whom reside inside the Beltway. Yet the 109-year-old institution never had an office in the District. That is, until now. Wilmington Trust has opened a wealth advisory services office at 1350 I St. NW, staffed with four advisers and headed by managing director William T. LaFond. The team will target high net worth individuals with at...

THE PARTNERSHIP The Making of Goldman Sachs By Charles D. Ellis Penguin Press. 729 pp. $37.95 Goldman, like McKinsey or Cravath or Madonna, is one of those fabulously wealthy New York entities known by a single name. Goldman, of course, is Goldman Sachs, the elite among Wall Street's remaining investment banks, a 130-year-old firm that has managed to prosper in good times and bad. The last remaining major private partnership on Wall Street until it went public in 1999, Goldman has generated both...

Tom Raffa is a peripatetic sort who sees business opportunities in everything. Then he acts on them. Restaurants. Wealth management. Human resources. A frozen yogurt shop. Insurance. Nonprofit consulting. Accounting. Executive recruitment. Coffee bars. Raffa is just one of those people who are always on the hunt for investments. Not everything he has touched has been successful. There was that pension-consulting firm that imploded. His try at online bill paying was a misfire.

Treasury secretary nominee Jack Lew has spent most of his career in government, but during the financial crisis, he was embedded inside one of the country's biggest banks as it nearly imploded. From 2006 to 2008, he worked at Citigroup in two major roles, a notable line in his résumégiven that as Treasury secretary, he would be charged with implementing new rules regulating Wall Street. But Lew did not have just any position at the bank. In early 2008, he became a top executive in the...

With plenty of two-income highly educated families, the D.C. region already has a reputation as one of the most affluent in the country. But the area is fast emerging as a home to the truly rich as well. High-end luxury retailers are responding. Brands such as Aston Martin are expanding their operations into the area — betting, for instance, that there will be plenty of customers who can afford the $280,000 sports car James Bond drives in the movies. Nearby in Tysons, a Saint...

Company: Cassaday & Co. Location: McLean. Employees: 26. From Cassaday & Co.'s 11th floor office in Tysons Corner, employees can look down and get a good view of the traffic congestion on International Drive that will snarl their commute home. And when the holiday season hits and swarms of shoppers are descending on Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria, that congestion turns to full-on gridlock. "I've heard horror stories that it can take 45 minutes to get...

Despite revenue growth in its asset management business, FBR & Co. has hired outside advisers to evaluate a possible sale of the division. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the Arlington-based investment bank said it is considering "strategic alternatives" for the unit, including siphoning off a portion or all of the business. FBR wrote that it will not provide further comment on the matter unless it reaches a definitive deal. As part of its asset management business, FBR oversees a family of 11...

A storied wealth manager founded by the Du Pont family, Wilmington Trust of Delaware has long boasted an impressive list of high net worth clients, a number of whom reside inside the Beltway. Yet the 109-year-old institution never had an office in the District. That is, until now. Wilmington Trust has opened a wealth advisory services office at 1350 I St. NW, staffed with four advisers and headed by managing director William T. LaFond. The team will target high net worth individuals with at...

Companies Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey of Arlington named Kim Cubine president. Akonni Biosystems of Frederick named Jan Smilek chief financial officer. Earth Networks of Germantown named Amena Ali chief marketing officer. The National Conference Center of Leesburg named Adam Hughes beverage manager and Erin Stolle sales manager. 3Delta Systems of Chantilly named Gary Beck senior vice president. The Midtown Group of the District named Aaron Carr recruiter...

Legg Mason reported the biggest quarterly loss in its 25 years as a public firm, driven by a $1.2 billion write-down of the value of its wealth-management unit. The Baltimore company said its loss for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31 was $1.49 billion, compared with a profit of $154.6 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 39.3 percent, to $720 million from $1.19 billion. Legg Mason also said it has replaced Bruce S. Sherman as the top executive of its Private Capital Management unit, part of the wealth-management unit, and will close or merge about 28...

Most of the region's community banks closed out last year with increased profits, as they continued to clear troubled loans off of their books and lend to small businesses. Among the 13 locally based banks reporting year-end earnings, there was a median increase of 40.8 percent in profits from a year ago. While much of that growth can be attributed to gains from a decline in money set aside to cover problem loans — known as loan loss provisions — there was a noticeable pickup in lending.