You easily could drive by Capital Group Cos.’ new 34-acre Irvine campus without even noticing it.
For a money manager that handles more than $1 trillion, you could say Los Angeles-based Capital Group likes to keep a low profile.
“Not a whole lot of people have heard of us,” said John Phelan, president of Capital Group’s American Funds Service Co.
The 76-year-old company is better known for its American Funds unit, one of the largest groups of mutual funds with more than 40 million accounts and $900 billion in assets.
Rivals include Vanguard Group Inc. and FMR Corp.’s Fidelity Investments.
Capital Group, with estimated yearly revenue of $11 billion, stays below the radar by marketing its funds to financial advisers, who in turn recruit individual investors.
The 615,000-square-foot Irvine campus, which opened in September, is the company’s largest. It employs 2,200 workers there in customer service, technology and accounting.
Capital Group, which moved its local operations from Brea last year, now is one of Irvine’s largest employers.
There are no assigned parking spaces at the sprawling campus.
“We’re not big on hierarchy,” Phelan said.
The campus’s six three-story buildings have managers’ offices in the interiors rather than at corners or windows.
This idea is to promote an open atmosphere, according to Phelan.
The managers’ offices also are symbolic of their place at the core of the company, he said.
Capital Group reports an employee turnover rate of less than 1% a year. Its downtown Los Angeles headquarters was voted the best place to work by Los Angeles Business Journal for 2007.
Workers in Brea watched the construction of the campus over the Internet, Phelan said. That helped build support for the move, which meant a longer commute for some.
“This is our most significant expansion in Southern California since we opened our Brea office in 1983,” Phelan said.
The campus is in the Irvine Spectrum at Irvine Center Drive and Sand Canyon Avenue.
Capital Group bought the former farmland from The Irvine Company five years ago. The company paid an estimated $200 million to build it in the past two years.
Architect Henry N. Cobb, who did the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, planned the campus.
About 60% of the campus is open space. A grassy park the size of two football fields is the focal point of the six office buildings and a cafe that surrounds it.
There are 500 trees, plant gardens, pathways and umbrella covered meeting spaces. They are the design of late landscape architect Dan Kiley, who took his inspiration from European gardens.
Kiley also did landscaping for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and Fountain Place in Dallas.
The Capital Group project was Kiley’s last.
The landscaping is designed to filter water before it reaches storm drains, according to Bryan Lewis, a senior manager of facilities and office services.
The sprinklers, fountain and toilets use recycled water from the Irvine Ranch Water District.
Other environmental touches include energy efficient ventilation and lights, as well as roofs that keep the building cool by reflecting the sun.
Floor to ceiling windows are designed for maximum light and to keep electric bills down, Lewis said.
The building meets U.S. Green Building Council standards, but by chance rather than plan.
“We didn’t pay for it to do that, but we’re glad it does,” Lewis said.
Each of the six office buildings contains about 90,000 square feet. They’re named after California landmarks: Catalina, Redwoods and Monterey.
The hallways are decorated with artwork from California artists Ed Moses, Joe Goode and Ed Ruscha.
A 15,000-square-foot cafe in a glass pavilion seats nearly 700 workers with indoor and outdoor tables.
Capital Group subsidizes the cafe and uses products from organic farms for the menu, which includes traditional hamburgers and sushi.
At the four corners of the campus are covered parking spaces.
“We didn’t want to see cars,” Phelan said.
The company also offers a shuttle that takes 150 people from the Irvine Transportation Center to the campus and back each day.
The campus reflects a growing company.
In the past six years, Capital Group has doubled its number of employees, which now total more than 9,000 in 19 spots around the world.
By the end of next year, Capital Group hopes to add 300 workers locally, making it one of the most active hirers in the county,and one of the few financial companies adding jobs here.
In six more years, the company wants to see the Irvine campus full with 3,000 workers, Phelan said.
The company’s low profile comes largely from the influence of its founder, the late Jonathon Bell Lovelace, according to Phelan.
Lovelace started the company in 1931, during the Great Depression and two years after a major stock market crash.
The slightly built Alabama native had a calm and gentile demeanor and liked his privacy, according to author Charles Ellis in his book “Capital: The Story of Long-Term Investment Excellence.”
Lovelace’s legacy has stayed with the private company’s culture, which now is overseen by President Phil de Toledo and some 300 shareholders.
