New family office opens in St. Louis

Wealthy families in St. Louis have another choice in multifamily offices as of today. Joan Malloy, a former co-founder and president of St. Louis Trust Co., has started Greenway Family Office with two other partners — one of whom is from local competitor Lowenhaupt Global Advisors. The new firm will offer comprehensive financial management, asset preservation, family governance and legacy-planning services, Ms. Malloy said. But instead of focusing first on investments, Ms. Malloy starts by uncovering the family's “softer” issues, she said, like emotional well-being, and charitable giving. “I really wanted to focus on all the needs of the family and not just financial capital,” Ms. Malloy, 45, said. “You can't preserve financial capital without nurturing and preserving the human and social capital. Most advisers start with the money picture. We intend to start with the family picture. We don't even ask about finances in the first conversation” Greenway has a handful of family clients as of now, and one outside investor. Ms. Malloy said she plans to increase assets under advisement to $500 million in 12 months. The minimum assets for a client would be $10 million in liquid assets, and the fee structure would depend on the complexity of the family's needs. It will either be an annual retainer, or an asset-based fee, or a blend of both, Ms. Malloy said. The other partners in the Greenway venture are Christopher Thompson, 38, who was previously chief family office executive at Lowenhaupt Global Advisors, and John Tiffin, 46, who was most recently a wealth management advisor for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Ms. Malloy said the firm will hire and expand as necessary to meet clients' needs.