Cresset Recruits $4B UBS Team in Boca Raton
Cresset has recruited a 16-person UBS Private Wealth Management team overseeing approximately $4 billion in client assets, establishing the independent wealth manager’s first office in Boca Raton, Florida.
The group is led by Michael Bober and Ed Ventrice, who each spent more than three decades advising corporate executives, business owners, wealthy families, foundations, endowments and professional athletes. Both were managing directors at UBS Financial Services and previously worked as certified public accountants at national accounting firms.
The team also includes advisers Michael MacDonald, William “Billy” Marino, Sarah Ponczek and Alex Santos. UBS identified Bober, Ventrice and Santos as leaders of its BV Group, which served business owners, athletes, institutions and multigenerational families.
“Cresset’s family office approach closely aligns with how we have always believed wealth should be managed—with a comprehensive, long-term perspective that extends well beyond investment management,” Ventrice said.
The Boca Raton office broadens Cresset’s existing Florida presence, which includes locations in Naples and West Palm Beach. South Florida has become an increasingly important wealth-management market as affluent families and financial firms relocate to the state.
Cresset offers investment management, private-market access, tax and estate planning, trust services, business succession advice, insurance consulting and philanthropic planning. The employee- and client-owned structure provides the UBS recruits with an independent platform while preserving their team-based service model.
Cresset reported $88 billion in assets under management and approximately $176 billion in assets under advisement as of July 1, according to the firm. The latter figure includes assets advised by Cresset Asset Management, Monticello Associates and Connable Office.
CEO Susie Cranston said the incoming team’s longstanding Boca Raton relationships would help introduce more families to Cresset’s integrated family-office services.
