U.S. Trust Sets Up For Stocks Bounce
Is U.S. Trust Corp. betting on a stock rebound?
The N.Y.-based investment management company has leased more office space in Costa Mesa, a sign that it could boost its Orange County wealth management and trust operations when Wall Street shows sustained growth.
The company added 5,000 square feet to its existing 10,000-square-foot operation at 600 Anton Blvd., across from South Coast Plaza.
U.S. Trust moved into the space, vacated by high-end Diva Restaurant, in September and now occupies the entire first floor. It signed a 10-year lease.
“It was an opportunity for us to expand, even though we’re in a difficult market,” said Cliff Carper, managing director of U.S. Trust’s Costa Mesa office.
The move, which Carper said was an easy sell to corporate headquarters, comes at a time when U.S. Trust is cutting costs elsewhere. The company was bought by San Francisco-based Charles Schwab Corp. in 2000 for $2.7 billion. Some speculate that Schwab paid a hefty premium for the company,Northern Trust backed out of a possible deal to buy U.S. Trust because it felt the price was too high.
Now Schwab, struggling itself, is looking to trim U.S. Trust’s overhead.
“We needed to dramatically increase the pace of change for operational improvements,” Schwab co-chief executive David S. Pottruck told BusinessWeek magazine recently, after the company pared some top U.S. Trust executives from the payroll.
U.S. Trust could be counting on OC’s relative affluence for growth in managed assets, despite making likely cuts elsewhere. The company manages money for clients with a minimum of $2 million in assets to invest.
“Even with the recessionary issues, Orange County still has some strong segments and we still have a significant number of (untapped) private clients,” said Ethan Morgan, vice president at Wells Fargo & Co.’s private client unit in Newport Beach.
U.S. Trust opened its OC doors a decade ago with seven workers. Now with 30 workers, the Costa Mesa office serves clients in OC, parts of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Carper said U.S. Trust has no plans to hire additional staff until it feels the markets have turned.
,Rajiv Vyas
