Publications

- June 1, 2016; Vol. 3, Number 6

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And Then There Was One: Jim Steiner, the man in charge of $38 billion Abbot Downing

by Mike Consol

Nothing is so characteristic of American business as its instinct to consolidate. Some of the greatest brand names have ceased to exist because they have turned into amalgams.

As an example, take PwC, which used to be PricewaterhouseCoopers, which used to be Price Waterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand. Then there is EY, which used to be Ernst & Young, which used to be Ernst & Ernst and Arthur Young & Co. Or take the wealth advisory business, where amalgamation has been happening at a furious pace.

It is the M&A way.

There once were firms called Calibre, and Lowry Hill Advisors, and Wells Fargo Family Wealth, names that have all ceased to exist in favor of an amalgamated organization touting the freshly minted name Abbot Downing, itself the product of a banking merger between Norwest and Wells Fargo and Wachovia.

Be assured there is no remorse about that decision to amalgamate. Abbot Downing is a far bigger name in the wealth advisory business

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