Adam Birenbaum, at age 33, continues to consolidate his leadership at the Buckingham financial services group in St. Louis, Mo. In January Birenbaum was named chief executive of the company’s RIA, Buckingham Asset Management. This week the firm announced he will also lead BAM Advisor Services, Buckingham’s provider of back-office services to RIAs. Birenbaum will take over as CEO effective Jan. 1, 2012, succeeding Mont Levy, 60, who is staying with the firm as a wealth advisor. Birenbaum (left) also leads BAM Risk Management, a Buckingham affiliate that advises on insurance.
“I think it’s less about the age and more about the readiness, or the preparedness,” he said. “This is a company that is an industry leader as it relates to the grooming of talent, both at the advisor level as well as the business leader level.”
The Buckingham financial group has 112 employees and a team of 13 principals. Focus Financial Partners in New York acquired it in 2007; this year Buckingham made Registered Rep.’s list of the Top 50 Asset Managers. It’s been a good run so far for Birenbaum, who joined the company eight years ago while a student at Saint Louis University’s School of Law.
BAM Advisor Services has 120 client firms and assets under advisement of $11 billion, while the RIA has assets under management of about $3.5 billion, he said. When Focus bought them, the combined assets were about $7.7 billion.
Birenbaum attributes the growth to the attraction that some advisors have for the company’s passive investment philosophy, aimed at meeting clients’ goals according to individual risk tolerances. A number of CPAs have joined the company; other advisors are joining Buckingham so they can construct an exit strategy for their retirement.