‘Wealth managers’ find plenty of opportunity in OC

Wealth Managers Find Opportunities to Grow in OC

Orange County is prime ground for wealth management or money management firms seeking to expand their operations quickly.

The county is among the richest in the U.S. in terms of wealth,it has more than 1,000 individuals or families with more than $10 million in wealth,and recently has seen a big surge in demand for portfolio managers, money managers and, more recently, wealth managers.

“We have been very successful” in a very short time, said Scott Browning, managing director of the Orange County office of myCFO Inc., the Mountain View-based wealth management firm for individuals and families.

A little more than a year after opening its office in Irvine, myCFO has more than doubled its staff here to 37 to handle its growing clientele of wealthy individuals and families.

The office has some 40 clients with a total of more than $6 billion in wealth. Most of the clients are in Orange County, San Diego County and southern parts of Arizona. The company takes care of their taxes, estate planning, insurance needs, check writing,it even helps them buy private jets.

The company is among the fastest-growing wealth management firms in the country,its assets under management shot up 400% last year. Its accounts average about $150 million each.

And myCFO is not the only company offering wealth management services in OC, nor the only one doing well.

“Our business is doing very well,” said Joel Goldhirsh, principal of Irvine-based Goldhirsh