SocGen-Rockefeller deal under a magnifying glass

Thomas Coyle

18 June 2008

A French bank and a U.S. multifamily office enter into "strategic alliance". SG Private Banking (SGPB) , the wealth-management division of Paris-based Société Générale, has taken a 37% stake in New York-based Rockefeller Financial Services, the parent company of multifamily office Rockefeller & Co.

The move gives SGPB opportunities to increase its exposure to ultra-high-net-worth investors, especially in the U.S. Meanwhile Rockefeller & Co. gets access to the French bank's expertise in structured products and alternative investments and, potentially, entrée to markets -- especially in Europe and Asia -- in which it is not now a significant player.

"Our strategic alliance with , now called GenSpring," says Nesvold.

Similarly ownership of multifamily offices such as Calibre, Hawthorn, Sterling and Convergent Wealth Advisors have increased exposure to sticky, ultra-high-net-worth assets for Wachovia, PNC, National City and City National respectively.

Again though, Peter Rockefeller stresses that SGPB's involvement with Rockefeller & Co. "isn't an example of integration on the level of a Calibre-Wachovia."

Nesvold also notes that SGPB's tie-in with Rockefeller & Co. makes an up-market complement to its acquisition in January 2008 of CWM Group, a Calgary, Canada-based financial-planning firm that works mainly with low-tier millionaires.

SGPB has about $110 billion in assets under management and staff in 25 countries.

Rockefeller & Co. had $29 billion under administration at the end of March 2008 including $7 billion in assets under management and $5 billion in assets under third-party advisement. In addition to its headquarters in New York, it has offices in Boston and Washington, D.C. -FWR

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