If you want to succeed in the money management business, there’s no substitute for being where the wealthy are. Quest interviewed Andrew Schneider, Founder and CEO of Family Office Networks, on how Palm Beach is the next up and coming center of wealth management and why a move to Palm Beach offices wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for CFPs, CPAs, financial advisors, hedge funds, and investment management firms.
Quest: How did you get to Palm Beach from NYC?
Schneider: I’m originally from Merrick, Long Island. I had been running a successful hedge fund company when all of a sudden 9/11 happened. After that it was hard to get into most of the Class A buildings in midtown where the majority of hedge funds were located, because the security was exhaustive and too time consuming. So rather than fight the battle I relocated to South Florida.
Quest: And how did that work out?
Schneider: Palm Beach is like being in New York. It’s a financial center. You have so many financial firms relocating down to South Florida. Hedge funds and investment management firms are popping up there as well as family offices.
Palm Beach is where all the money is going. The wealthiest people from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are all relocating down there. It’s a big growth area.
Quest: What can you say about the finance industry’s real estate preferences in South Florida?
Schneider: I think we’ve seen a major change from the days of coming into the office 5 days a week. Many people I work with, the hedge funds and investment managers who target these wealthy clientele, either operate from home or from smaller locations. The technology and communication is much easier in this day and age, certainly in finance.
You’re seeing less of the traditional office park. Now many financial firms are operating out of Palm Beach offices that are located within coworking centers or temporary office spaces. That’s where we see a lot of the start ups, because that’s all that they need.
Quest: And affluent people aren’t put off by companies who use coworking centers?
Schneider: In some cases, yes, and in other cases, no; it depends on the investor.
Some affluent people that worked extremely hard and saved every penny are going to appreciate someone using a coworking center. But there are others who would look down on that and say that any company managing their money would have to be “the real deal”, not one or two people operating out of a temporary office space.
I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum. It depends on the investor and their comfort level.
Quest: You’re the “Family Office Guy” so to speak. What advice do you have for financial firms who want to build relationships with family offices?
Schneider:
If you want to get to know family offices you have to attend events in their back yard and meet them face to face. Despite all the technology we have, trust is still best created in person.
I’ve created the largest family office community in the world with over 45k members. We have different associations set up all over the world. In each one of these I have someone with boots on the ground, coordinating the events. We bring family offices together with other asset managers and other service vendors.
Family offices want to come and meet other families so they can meet and exchange ideas. To assist these families in finding the best providers, we co-market services such as wealth management, estate planning, and other luxury services.
Palm Beach Offices in Limited Supply
Getting into the right Palm Beach office space has become a lot trickier as demand conditions have shifted.
The allure of no personal income tax and warm weather has attracted many Northerners to Palm Beach offices, and the top quality office space is becoming harder and harder to come by. Although development had been in a standstill since 2008, it’s starting to pick back up in response to higher demand. According to local authorities, instead of the office parks of years past, “tenants are seeking hip, open-format offices in urban centers, which is in dire shortage in West Palm Beach.” (Martinez, 2017)
To attract younger talent, office design has taken a trendier feel, with high ceiling, airy environments becoming the norm. Tenants are seeking amenities that create work-life balance such as nap rooms, meditation rooms, private phone booths, and even workout facilities.
There’s a need for more office space flexibility than ever before as well, with many companies preferring to utilize a virtual office set up with occasional meeting room or day office usage when necessary. This allows financial companies to save money and work from home while presenting a professional business image.
Branding matters a great deal when marketing a luxury service. If you want to target ultra-wealth clientele, you’ve got to look the part!
Quest Workspaces Palm Beach Offices
Quest’s class A building at 515 North Flagler Drive on the Intracoastal Waterway in Downtown West Palm Beach offers easy access to downtown’s financial business community.
Our Palm Beach offices are is great for financial companies who are entertaining affluent clients. They’ll love the stunning water views and gorgeous marina across the street, and the impressive, modern glass atrium is sure to impress.
Carye Farrel is the center manager for Quest’s Palm Beach offices.
Carye has been in the executive suite industry for over six years and has worked with many financial companies over that time period. She has a true passion for customer service and helping financial firms achieve their goals.
According to her, “Quest Workspaces provides businesses an environment where you are able to work, be creative & productive, have fun, and make lasting business & personal relationships with other Questers.”
To arrange your personal tour of our Palm Beach offices, please email info@questworkspaces.com.
Sources:
Martinez, Nicole. (2017, April 3). Positioning West Palm Beach as a Financial Center of the Future. Urbanland. Retrieved from https://urbanland.uli.org/development-business/positioning-west-palm-beach-financial-center-future/.
