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Global Ultra Wealthy Population Reaches Record High and a Combined Net Worth Of Nearly US$30 Trillion

The combined wealth of the world’s UHNW individuals – defined as those with US$30 million and above in net assets – increased by 7% to US$29.725 trillion in 2014, almost twice the GDP of the world’s largest economy, the United States as report by the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2014, released today, that shows too that 12,040 new ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals were minted this year, pushing the global UHNW population to a record 211,275, a 6% increase from 2013.

North America and Europe continue to dominate the global landscape as the regions with the largest UHNW population and wealth. The United States maintains its position as the world’s top UHNW country in 2014 with a population of 69,560 UHNW individuals with a combined net worth of over US$9.6 trillion, a 6% and 7% increase respectively from last year.

The Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2014 forecasts that the global UHNW population will reach 250,000 individuals in the next five years. The report also predicts that Asia will be the region that sees the fastest growth in UHNW wealth, overtaking Europe in terms of UHNW wealth in the next ten years.

Below are other key findings from the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2014:

The world’s UHNW population accounts for only 0.004% of the world’s adult population, but controls almost 13% of the world’s total wealth.
North America’s UHNW population grew by 6.2% to 74,865 individuals and their combined net worth rose 6% to US$10.3 trillion.
Europe’s UHNW population expanded by 6.5% to 61,820 individuals and their combined net worth rose nearly 9% US$8.4 trillion.
There are almost twice as many UHNW individuals in Asia than in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific regions combined. Yet, Asia’s UHNW population grew by only 4.8% to 46,635 individuals and their total net worth rose by less than 6% to nearly US$7 trillion. Only Latin America and the Caribbean had lower growth rates.
Latin America and the Caribbean saw the slowest UHNW population growth of any region. The region’s UHNW population grew by 4.6% to 14,805 individuals and their combined net worth rose 5.5% to US$2.2 trillion. This performance, however, indicates a recovery from last year’s decline.
The UHNW population of the Pacific grew by 5.4% to 4,170 individuals and their combined net worth rose 6.2% to US$515 billion.
The Middle East saw the fastest growth in terms of both UHNW population and wealth for the second year in a row. The region’s UHNW population swelled to 5,975 individuals with a combined net worth of almost US$1 trillion, a 12.7% and 13.1% increase since 2013, respectively.
Africa experienced the second fastest growth in terms of UHNW population and wealth, with an 8.3% increase in the region’s UHNW population (3,005) and 12.9% growth in UHNW wealth (US$395 billion).
There are 183,810 male UHNW individuals as of 2014, and 23.6% are involved in the finance, banking & investment industry, a 3.6% increase from last year.
There are 27,465 female UHNW individuals as of 2014, and 48% of them fully inherited their wealth, a decline from 53% in 2013.
Almost US$13 trillion of the world’s UHNW wealth is held in private company holdings, nearly twice the amount held in public company stakes.
64% of the world’s UHNW population is self-made and only 17% have fully inherited their wealth.
The world’s UHNW population is a significant source of revenue for the luxury industry, accounting for almost 19% of the luxury industry’s market.

The Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2014 – which looks at the global UHNW population from July 2013 to June 2014 – examines this wealth segment by geographical location, gender, and sources of wealth.

“Wealth-X is pleased to partner with UBS for a second consecutive year to produce the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth 2014,” Wealth-X CEO Mykolas Rambus said. “The report underscores Wealth-X’s commitment to conducting groundbreaking research on the world’s ultra high net worth (UHNW) population. Expert commentary from UBS complements Wealth-X’s global intelligence on the world’s UHNW population, producing a report that demonstrates a true collaboration between the global leader in wealth management and the world’s leading UHNW intelligence provider.”

Simon Smiles, Chief Investment Officer UHNW, UBS Wealth Management, said, “The second Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report is the most comprehensive study of its kind and provides unparalleled insights into this sophisticated and global client segment. We believe that wealth concentration is one of the biggest risks facing UHNW individuals. The report finds that UHNW individuals have over two thirds of their wealth in their core businesses. We believe that this could expose UHNW individuals to many unintended risks and so we have been helping them address these concentration biases.

“UBS has one of the world’s largest dedicated teams whose focus is entirely on UHNW clients and we continue to strive to become a strong, effective and trustworthy partner to this valued clientele.” Simon Smiles added.

Barclays Makes Two Senior Hires to Its Wealth and Investment Management Team in Palm Beach

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Barclays has announced the appointments of Josh Crossman and Ginny Neal as Directors and Investment Representatives for Wealth and Investment Management. Based in the Palm Beach office, they will be responsible for implementing Barclays’ global wealth management programs and for providing sophisticated alternative investment strategies to high net worth individuals, foundations, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Crossman and Ms. Neal will report to John Cregan, Regional Manager for Palm Beach.

“We are very excited to have two talented investment professionals join our team in this rapidly growing region. Josh and Ginny both have the breadth of wealth management and investment expertise that our clients demand,” said Mr. Cregan. “Their appointments underscore our commitment to attracting the very best wealth advisors in order to deliver customized investment solutions that match the financial profiles and risk appetites of our high net worth clients.”

Mr. Crossman joins Barclays with 19 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was a Vice President at JP Morgan Chase & Co., where he was a Senior Leader on the Private Bank Ultra High Net Worth Investment Team. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2010, Mr. Crossman was the Chief Investment Officer at Frontline Management AS, a family office. He began his career at Bear, Stearns & Co. in 1995.

Ms. Neal brings 15 years of both financial and legal experience to the firm. Prior to joining Barclays, she was a Senior Private Banker at JP Morgan Chase & Co., where she serviced ultra high net worth individuals and family offices. Before joining JP Morgan in 2010, Ms. Neal was General Counsel for GenSpring Family Offices, LLC. She began her career at Greenberg Traurig, PA in 1999.

With 12 offices in the US, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management provides comprehensive wealth management solutions to high net worth individuals and families. The firm focuses on providing highly customized investment solutions to clients in alignment with their long-term risk tolerance, personal aspirations, specific financial needs and personality.

The Multi-Family Office Channel Controls More Than US$700bn in the U.S.

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According to new research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates, the multi-family office channel controls more than $700 billion.

“We estimate that the multi-family office channel is comprised of more than 200 firms that control more than $700 billion,” states Donnie Ethier, associate director at Cerulli. “Traditionally, the growth has been influenced by the independent registered investment advisor (RIA) segment of the channel. While this is still true, the highly-debated commercial multi-family office segment, which is financially backed by banks, posted the greatest asset growth in 2013.”

“Despite the debate of whether or not these offices are genuine family offices, the high-end wealth management units are paying off for many of their parent banks,” adds Ethier.

“This sizing reflects the total assets controlled by their advisor forces,” Ethier explains. “Although multi-family offices undoubtedly focus on high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth families (UHNW), many do have a mix of clients that do not meet Cerulli’s HNW criteria. These non-HNW assets are still a massive opportunity for third-party managers.”

In their High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Markets 2014: Addressing the Unique Needs of Wealthy Families report, Cerulli analyzes the U.S. HNW (investable assets greater than $5 million) and UHNW (investable assets greater than $20 million) marketplaces. The report focuses on the three constituencies of investors, providers, and asset managers.

“Many executives agree that the phrase ‘multi-family office’ has lost its allure because so many wealth managers use it to explain their services geared to wealthy investors,” Ethier continues. “This has generally watered down the term to a marketing scheme. Evaluating a multi-family office should be based on the practices’ high-touch services and DNA versus its assets under management.”

Cerulli believes that third-party management opportunities will only grow as additional RIAs move upmarket, qualifying for multi-family office status. More national and super regional banks and trust companies will likely follow suit and establish family-office practices of their own. Appeal will grow across the segments as the firm count and assets swell.

Global Dividends Set to Soar to $1.19 Trillion in 2014, with Further Growth in 2015

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After adjusting for currency movements and one-offs, underlying dividend growth was 9.7% year on year, in line with the strong expansion seen in the first half of the year. On an underlying basis, the US, Europe, Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific ex Japan all achieved impressive double-digit dividend increases, while the UK, Canada and Japan lagged behind. The Henderson Global Dividend Index ended the quarter at 159.

For the full year, Henderson Global Investors expects dividends to reach $1.19 trillion, a headline increase of 12.6% (underlying +10.6%). For 2015, the Henderson’s preliminary forecast is $1.24 trillion for global dividends. Next year’s expected headline increase (4.2%) is slower than the underlying 7.2%, mainly because Vodafone will not repeat its record $26bn special dividend.

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The US remained the main engine of global dividend growth in Q3 2014. US firms paid out $87.4bn, 10.8% more year on year (underlying).

Dividend growth is coming from almost every sector in the US, with financials looking particularly strong. For the year to date, US financials have already distributed double what they did in the whole of 2010. By comparison, in the rest of the world, dividend payments from financials have increased just 12.1%, indicating how quickly the industry in the US has recovered from the financial crisis.

Seasonally, Q3 is the most important quarter for Emerging Markets, particularly for China, which pays out nine tenths of its annual total in the period. Underlying Emerging Market dividend growth of 11.0% to a total of $58.4bn was strong in comparison to recent quarters. With China accounting for almost half the total, its 14% underlying growth was key to the Emerging Markets’ successful performance. Russia saw flat headline dividends with underlying growth eroded by the plunging rouble. Q3 is also the seasonal peak for Asia Pacific, which grew 10.3% (underlying), with Taiwan leading the region.

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Q3 is a seasonally small quarter for dividend payments both in Europe (which extended Q2’s double-digit gains on an underlying basis) and in Japan. The UK is typically a big payer in Q3, but lagged behind other countries, as headline growth translated into an underlying decline once the gains from a strong pound were stripped out.

Alex Crooke, Head of Global Equity Income at Henderson Global Investors said: “2014 will break a new record for global dividends. The third quarter has extended the rapid growth in income that investors have been enjoying from their shares in 2014, and we are confident of double digit growth for the full year. The US is particularly impressive, as American firms increase dividend payouts helped by rising profits. Globally, investors should reap approximately $133 billion more in dividends this year than last.

“Despite the uncertain outlook for economic growth in 2015, we expect another good year of dividend growth, albeit at a slower rate than this year. A global approach to income investing continues to offer investors an attractive mix of opportunity and diversification.”

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KLIMA Brings to Miami a New Culinary Concept Inspired in the Mediterranean and Barcelona

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KLIMA Miami, a progressive ideology in hospitality originating from Spain, announces the opening of KLIMA Restaurant and Bar – a culinary concept inspired by gastronomy from the Mediterranean and Barcelona. The newly renovated property, located on 23rd Street and adjacent to Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, is scheduled to open in November this year as the latest addition to the heart of the historic district.

The 122-seat restaurant property, encompassing a total of 7,700 square-feet, will feature two levels – a ground floor restaurant and bar with indoor and outdoor dining areas, as well as a second floor members-only club scheduled to open in Spring 2015. The newly appointed veteran Executive Chef, David Rustarazo, originates from Spain and brings a highly seasoned expertise in Western Mediterranean and Catalan cuisine to the table. Through his long standing working relationship with KLIMA Miami co-founders, Pablo Fernández-Valdés and Yago Giner in Barcelona, Spain’s reputable culinary authority, Albert Ventura, is the gastronomic advisor for KLIMA Miami and will be an integral part of the company’s growth in the U.S. Ventura will be heavily involved with the opening of KLIMA Restaurant and Bar in Miami Beach and currently owns Restaurant COURE, Wall 47 and the recently opened El Cercle restaurant in Barcelona.

KLIMA Miami, together with Albert Ventura and Chef Rustarazo, have created a uniquely eclectic menu that will offer a blend of contemporary and international fare inspired by the Mediterranean and Barcelona regions. The culinary vision for KLIMA Restaurant and Bar will reflect the roots of the founders while combining the very best in local ingredients sourced from premium South Florida suppliers.

“We are very pleased to announce our inaugural restaurant project in the United States,” says co-founder and managing partner of KLIMA Miami, Pablo Fernández-Valdés. “We selected the South Florida region to open our first restaurant with our sights set on Miami Beach for its pulsating multicultural flavor and cosmopolitan clientele. Our aim is to install a much-loved Spanish gastronomic ideology within this exciting city to perfectly complement its rich cultural diversity. As a result of working for many years in the hospitality industry all over the world, we have a deep knowledge and understanding of the business. The number one priority is for our casual and informal, yet elegant restaurant and bar experience to ultimately bring guests back for a memorable, fun and most enjoyable time.”

Co-founders of KLIMA Miami, Pablo Fernández-Valdés and Yago Giner, are the former CEO and COO respectively of the highly reputable and award-winning Grupo Tragaluz restaurant group in Spain.

Credit Suisse Boosts its China A-share Research Ahead of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Launch

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Foto: TreyRaatcliff, Flickr, Creative Commons. ¡Mr. Marshall ya no es americano!

Credit Suisse has announced that it has significantly expanded its China A-share Research and Analytical capabilities, providing investors with the most comprehensive and best in class analytical tools for A-shares listed in PRC.

HOLT LensTM, an analytical platform proprietary to Credit Suisse, has added more than 300 A-share companies to its database, bringing the total to more than 800 A-share companies. These stocks represent an aggregate market capitalization of US$3.9 trillion. In addition to the CSI 300, HOLT will now provide 100% coverage of all constituent stocks of the Shanghai Stock Exchange 180 and 380 indices, which include the 568 companies that are eligible for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Scheme (“Scheme”).

In addition, Credit Suisse Equity Research has also more than triple its coverage of domestic China A-shares to now include 130 A-share companies, representing a total market capitalization of about US$1.84 trillion. Credit Suisse plans to further expand its Equity Research to cover 300 China A-share stocks by 2016.

Nicole Yuen, Vice Chairman Greater China and Head of Greater China Equities said: “China is an important market for Credit Suisse in the region and we will continue to invest in building the bench of talent and infrastructure to provide best in class products and services to our clients. By expanding the HOLT database and our Equity Research coverage of China’s A-share companies, Credit Suisse aims to offer the leading research product on the A-share market to international investors. Combining our strengths in systematic analytical capability through the HOLT® framework and fundamental analysis through our Equity Research team, Credit Suisse provides the most comprehensive coverage in China A-share markets to international investors.”

Credit Suisse Equity Research provides comprehensive analysis of 1,350 stocks in the region, including 410 Hong Kong and China companies. The HOLT database includes analysis of over 20,000 stocks across 60 countries globally, with 860 companies in Hong Kong. It is made available to more than 5,000 investment professionals at over 750 investment managers.

Credit Suisse is one of the leading equities houses in Asia Pacific by cash turnover, including Hong Kong. It is rated #3 for Asian Equity Research in 2014 by Institutional Investor.

Ernest Fong, Head of Research, Non-Japan Asia said: “The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect is a signification step forward in the liberalisation of China’s capital account and Renminbi (RMB) internationalisation. The Scheme opens up new investment opportunities for both inbound and outbound investors. As a leading Equity Research house in Asia, we will continue to expand our equity research capabilities in the A-share market, producing insightful analysis that identifies longer term investment themes and opportunities.”

HOLT LensTM: Credit Suisse’s proprietary analytical platform

HOLT provides proprietary methodology that objectively measures economic performance and valuation for companies, globally. Delivered via the HOLT LensTM, platform, it provides investors with unique insights into a company’s performance, valuation and future expectations.

“One differentiator for Credit Suisse is that we can provide consistent valuation metrics across all sectors and geographies. By using this globally comparable framework for comparing and valuing companies, our clients are equipped to make better investment decisions,” said Jonathan Tischler, Head of HOLT’s business in Asia Pacific.

The scale of China’s capital market

With a total market capitalization of about US$4.2 trillion, the China A-share market is currently ranked #3 globally, accounting for about 6.6% of the world’s market capitalization. China is also the world’s 2nd most actively traded market with average daily turnover of US$59 billion.

A recent Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI) report, entitled EM Capital Markets: the road to 2030, forecasts that China will become the world’s 2nd largest equity market before 2030 and will account for almost one-fifth of the value of global equity markets.

On secondary cash equity activities, the report projects that China A-share market’s average daily traded value to reach US$396.3 billion by 2030, while its share of global traded value to double to 26.9% by 2030, compared to 13.9% this year. CSRI also projects that Hong Kong’s secondary equity annual share traded value is to increase by 8.7 times from currently about US$1.32 trillion in 2013 to US$11.49 trillion. The projected trading values would translate into potential secondary equity revenue opportunity of US$249 billion for China and of US$46.5 billion for Hong Kong cummulatively between 2014 and 2030.

Vincent Chan, Head of China Equity Research estimates that by the end of 2020, about US$112 billion of the world equity funds will be invested in China A-share market, compared to US$49 billion today.

For a copy of “Emerging capital markets: the Road to 2030,” please click this link.

Eaton Vance Launches Floating Rate Exchange Fund For Non-US Investors

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Eaton Vance Management International, a subsidiary of Eaton Vance Management, has launched a new floating rate exchange fund for non-US qualified investors.

The Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Fund is an Irish-domiciled qualifying investor alternative investment fund and complies with the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

The fund invests in a portfolio primarily of senior floating rate loans of US and non-US corporate borrowers, Eaton Vance said in a statement.

It will be managed by Scott Page and Craig Russ, co-directors, Eaton Vance Floating Rate Loan team and John Redding, vice president.

The firm said the fund is currently seeking the necessary marketing passport registration to enable it to be marketed across various jurisdictions in the European Union under the requirements of AIFMD, as well as separate approvals to be permitted to market in Switzerland and certain Asian jurisdictions.

“Particular interest today is coming from large institutions grappling with near-zero bond returns and undercompensated risk elsewhere. Seven years into a global economic recovery, we see appetites for unencumbered risk ultimately creating an opportunity to fill the void in risk-managed approaches to the asset class. As investors shift their view of risk, the fund we are launching today will be uniquely positioned to complement or replace existing strategies,” said Niall Quinn, president of EVMI.

S&P Dow Jones Indices And MSCI Announce The Creation Of A Real Estate Sector In GICS Structure

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S&P Dow Jones Indices, announced last week that as a result of their annual review of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) structure, a new Real Estate Sector is being created, elevating its position from under the Financials Sector and bringing the number of GICS Sectors to 11. Additionally, a new Sub-Industry for Copper is being created. The changes are being considered for implementation after the market close (ET) on August 31, 2016.

“Feedback from the annual GICS structural review confirmed that Real Estate is now viewed as a distinct asset class and is increasingly being incorporated separately into the strategic asset allocation of asset owners,” said Remy Briand, Managing Director and Global Head Equity Research at MSCI. “Investors told us that there are significant differences between public Real Estate and Financial companies and therefore Real Estate deserves a dedicated GICS Sector. Today’s announcement ensures that GICS continues to be the most accurate, complete and standard industry analysis framework for investment research, portfolio management and asset allocation.”

According to David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, “Real estate is an important and growing part of major economies throughout the world. To reflect this and support good financial analysis, GICS is introducing an eleventh sector for Real Estate and redefining financials to exclude Real Estate. This is an example of our ongoing effort to ensure that GICS is reflective of today’s markets.”

The annual review is intended to ensure that the GICS structure continues to appropriately represent the global equity markets and, thereby, enables asset owners, asset managers and investment research specialists to make consistent global comparisons by industry. The GICS revision is the result of a consultation with members of the global investment community.

S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI are proposing to implement the changes to the GICS structure after the market close (ET) on Wednesday, August 31, 2016, but are requesting feedback from market participants on this proposed implementation date by February 13, 2015. The final decision on the date of implementation will be announced by March 13, 2015. The list of securities affected by these changes will be announced at a later date closer to the implementation, but with plenty of advance notice.

The changes to the GICS structure in 2016 are summarized below.

Real Estate Sector

Real Estate is being moved out from under the Financials Sector and being promoted to its own Sector under the code 60. The Real Estate Investment Trusts Industry is being renamed to Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and excludes Mortgage REITs. Mortgage REITs remain in the Financials Sector under a newly created Industry and Sub-Industry called Mortgage REITs.

Copper

A Copper Sub-Industry is being created in the Metals & Mining Industry. This change will be implemented along with the creation of the Real Estate Sector in 2016.

The proposals relating to the Telecommunication Services Sector and the Luxury Goods Sub-Industry are not resulting in any changes to the GICS structure at this time.

The new GICS structure, when implemented, will consist of 11 Sectors, 24 Industry Groups, 68 Industries and 157 Sub-Industries.

State Street Report Points to Increasingly “Hands-On” Approach of Pension Funds Globally

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Pension funds globally say they intend to adopt a more proactive approach to managing their assets, according to a new report by State Street Corporation. “Pensions Funds DIY: A Hands-On Future for Asset Owners,” highlights the key trends that are reshaping how pension funds manage their investments operating models and deliver long-term value to members. The report is based on a research survey of more than 100 pension fund executives conducted in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Driving this change is the challenge of building a holistic view of risk across a multi-asset portfolio while aggregating risk data from multiple managers, aligning interests and managing costs. “Pension funds’ desire to deliver strong investment returns to their participants coupled with improved oversight and governance and is leading to a need for more in-house accountability for asset and risk management,” said Martin J. Sullivan, head of Asset Owner sector solutions for North America, State Street. “However, this undertaking requires pension funds to carefully evaluate how to achieve a balance of in-house and external talent, tools and technologies.”

Some key trends that emerged from the research include:

A majority of pension fund respondents (81 percent) indicate they are exploring bringing more asset management responsibilities in-house over the next three years. This is due in part to cost concerns, with 29 percent indicating it is a challenge for them to justify the fees of their asset managers.
As part of this shift, a majority of pension funds (53 percent) are expecting to use more lower-cost strategies to achieve desired investment outcomes, as well as expanding the number of technology platforms and software solutions they employ (43 percent).
More than half (51 percent) of funds place a high priority on strengthening their governance over the next three years.

“While the largest and most sophisticated funds can handle most aspects of multi-asset class portfolios in-house, the majority of pension funds will need to make a choice about where to be a specialist and when a sub-contractor is needed,” continued Sullivan. “This shift underscores pension funds’ need for new, more collaborative partnerships with asset managers who can offer them transparency and effectively tailor investment ideas and solutions to their unique needs.”

On behalf of State Street, the EIU conducted a global survey of institutional asset owners during July and August of 2014. The survey garnered 134 responses from pension fund executives, spanning both defined contribution and defined benefit assets. Forty-two percent of respondents were from the Americas, 36 percent from Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and 22 percent from Asia Pacific. Just over half (52 percent) of respondents came from public sector pension funds, 31 percent from private sector pension systems and 16 percent from superannuation funds.

To learn more about the findings, click here.

MUFG Union Bank Names Mike Feldman Head of Branch and Private Banking

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MUFG Union Bank, N.A., has announced that Mike Feldman has been named Head of Branch and Private Banking. In his expanded role, he will manage Private Banking, through which the bank offers a variety of services for affluent individuals, families, businesses and organizations. Based in Orange County, he continues to report to Pierre P. Habis, who heads MUFG Union Bank’s Consumer and Business Banking groups.

“Mike is a proven leader, and his extensive experience and success leading investment services and licensed banker programs made him the obvious choice to lead Private Banking,” says Habis. “Mike will work with me and other senior leaders to help manage the bank’s affluent strategy and ensure that we offer best-in-class products and services to this valued segment.”

Feldman will continue to oversee the bank’s network of more than 400 retail branches in California, Oregon and Washington, including the licensed banker program and other sales leadership and service initiatives.

Feldman joined Union Bank in 2009 and has more than 20 years of banking experience. He previously served as head of California Branch Banking and as national sales manager for the Retail Banking division. Prior to joining Union Bank, Feldman was a managing director of Retail Banking at Countrywide Bank and president and chief executive officer of Countrywide Investment Services Inc. He also served as a senior vice president and Community Banking president at Wells Fargo, where he managed several diverse market areas and developed the licensed banker program.

Feldman received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Fresno. He also earned a Personal Financial Planning certification from the University of California, Irvine. Active in the community, Feldman serves on the board of directors for the American Heart Association in Orange County and is a board member of the California Chamber. He has also served on several boards throughout Southern California, including: the Personal Financial Planning Advisory Committee at the University of California, Irvine; United Way; and Junior Achievement, an organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.