Individuals and Families
The majority of the clients we serve at Birch Hill are people we’ve worked with for years. In fact, many of these relationships pre-date our founding.
We frequently serve multiple generations of the same family, and we believe that works in their favor. It means we are in a better position to provide estate planning services that benefit both parents and their offspring.
We’re proud to say that, in a number of instances, we’ve worked with as many as four generations of the same family. We’re equally proud of the fact that fully 98% of the clients who were with us since we opened our doors are still at Birch Hill today.*
A portion of the clients we support came by their money through inheritance. Others have earned their wealth either as professionals, business owners, or entrepreneurs.
Many of our clients have aspirations that go beyond themselves. They are concerned about the future financial well-being of their children and grandchildren, have missions they wish to support philanthropically, or wish to serve as benefactors to both their family and causes they care about. In these instances, our wealth management services are called for to help them move forward purposely.
A number of our clients were referred to us by other clients. There is no greater compliment than that, and we appreciate it deeply. We take it to mean we’re doing our job.
* Figure does not include clients who passed away in that time period.
Case Studies
Institutions
Birch Hill manages the endowments of a number of institutions in the Boston area. They include foundations, associations, and other non-profits.
Very often the institutions we serve depend on this money to supplement sources of revenue. It may be part of their operating capital, or they may use a percentage of it annually to help fund programs that support their mission.
Typically, we compete with other local investment management companies for these accounts. The people who make the final choice are often members of the Finance Committee of the institution’s Board of Directors, and they come to the table with strict selection criteria, such as:
- Is the firm’s compensation model fee-based?
- Do they have a forward-looking investment process?
- Can we trust this company to manage our money wisely and prudently?
- Are their people ethical and principled?
- Will we have the attention of the partners?
Of the institutional clients we currently serve, many have been with us virtually since our founding, and our relationship with at least two of them pre-dates Birch Hill. We think this is significant. It means we’re living up to their standards.
