If the county were a country, OC’s annual GDP of nearly $250 billion would put it in the low 40s of rankings by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and United Nations—nestled among the likes of Finland or Egypt, depending on who counts.
Managing all that wealth takes financial expertise, which is abundant in Orange County.
Inside this Special Report, you’ll find our lists of the biggest brokerage houses, registered investment advisers and venture capitalists, a who’s who of financial expertise and dealmakers in Orange County.
We also thought it would be fun to ask some OC experts to describe hot financial topics on their minds.
In these pages you’ll find items on:
• An OC money manager who never misses the annual Berkshire Hathaway pilgrimage (see page 29)
• How a financial adviser arrived in Orange County with nothing and built his practice in six years to almost $1 billion in assets under management (see page 23)
• App-based mutual fund investments aimed at millennials; one that even a grizzled finance reporter can love (see page 20)
• Trends in commercial real estate lending as building prices increase and loan ratios decline (see below)
• How financial advisers are promoting partnerships with young pros to preserve legacies (see page 23)
— Peter J. Brennan
