- By Jon Chesto Globe Staff,Updated December 13, 2021, 5:05 p.m.
By the time banks approach the $10 billion mark in size, they usually have a robust team to manage customers’ stock and bond investments. It was time for Brookline Bancorp, with its $8.3 billion in assets but no wealth management arm, to step up.
So chief executive Paul Perrault turned to one of the most experienced pros in Boston: Marc White. Over his career, White has run New England wealth management groups for Credit Suisse First Boston and J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Most recently, he led a local bank geared toward high-earners known as Ethic, a rebranded reboot of the struggling Admirals Bank.
Perrault brought White on board with little fanfare in June, to launch Brookline’s new wealth management group, dubbed Clarendon Private. That refers to the street in the Back Bay where Brookline’s headquarters is located. (Yes, Brookline is based in Boston now.) Joining White at Clarendon are Tracy Welch and Matthew Morse, two stock gurus who had worked at fund firm Eaton Vance.
Clarendon officially started accepting customers in November, as Brookline’s commercial loan officers began cross-selling the new private bank to their business clients. The new venture was announced last week.
White also gave himself a crash course on all the new fin-tech software that’s out there before picking Orion Advisor Solutions for Clarendon’s client platform, to give clients one place to go to view the status of all their investments. It was a new-school lesson that was much appreciated by this old-school banker.