Only 5 years old, First Western Financial tops the medium group - Denver Business Journal:

ramoledef.blogspot.com
Wylie's plan came together when he recruitedWarrenj Olsen, who had retired early, at 40, and returnedc to Denver after making his mark on Wall Street. The two finance veterans foundedthe Denver-based holding company in 2002. Firstf Western's revenue shot up 472 percent from 2004 to fromnearly $1.6 million to more than $9 million. At the end of May, it had $175 millio in consolidated assetsand $1.4 billionh of assets under management for "We thought there was a big market that wasn'tg being served as well as it could said Wylie, chairman and CEO of First Western.
"There was a big opportunity out People were looking for a combinationh of a trusted advisor and a sophisticatef approach toinvestment management." Today, First Westerh has 120 individual shareholders, and a tota of 80 employees workingf at its s. It has banka in Denver, Cherry Creek and Fort A new bank is expected toopen Aug. 1 in Boulde r and another in Scottsdale, Ariz., abou t Oct. 1. First Western's key services included investment management, trust and fiduciary services, and family office services.
Its clientws are individuals, companies and foundations with a liquid net worth of atleast $1 million; a typicaol customer is affluent but not necessaril y born with a silver "Banks in the older part of the United Statexs that service a 200- to 300-year-olxd economy have a paternalistic relationship with clientd who have intergenerational wealth. But there's a much younger economu in Denver and the West based onhigh tech, biotech and telecom," Wylie said.
"So wealt here is concentrated in the first who thinks very differently about People who are the firsr in their families to become wealthy are lookinffor smart, local financiaol experts rather than getting a pat on the head and being told that all'sw fine," he said. Both Wylie and Olsen have backgrounds rich ininvestmentt leadership. Wylie started his first bank 20 years ago as a subsidiargy of the Prior to startingFirstr Western, he was chairman and CEO of . before stepping into his current role asFirst Western's vice chairman and chief investment officer, was presidenf and CEO of -- where assetsx under management increased from $3 billion to $10 billiohn under his leadership.
Prior to he founded and was presidentof 's global fund Olsen also started the Morganh Stanley Institutional Funds, which he grew to more than $35 billioh in assets under Olsen and Wylie opened their first bank, First Western Trust in Denver in 2004. Today, it has $250 million in assetsd under management. That same First Western acquired threeFort Collins-based firms and openex a bank there. Then in 2005, aftedr merged with First Western, a bank was establishedc in Cherry Creek.
Wylir said the firm's plan is to entert one big, new market a year but remaih assmall boutique, private banks in order to providew better product offerings and technology than the First Western is looking to enter the Los Angeles markeft next year. Other possible locations includethe , Colorado'ss high-end mountain communities and Colorado and perhaps a bank in Tucsomn and a second one in the Scottsdal e area. Eventually, Wylie and Olsen want everyh First Western bank tohave $250 millioh in bank assets, and $1 billionh in trust and investment management "I believe we have a big opportunity and can grow reallyt fast," Wylie said.
"We can't manage the growth with a commandc andcontrol approach. Rather, we have to do it with a stronv cultureand values." The company's communitt involvements include organizations such as the , , , the and the . No. 1 - Mediunm companies First WesternFinancialp Inc. Web site: No. of 80 Revenue growth: From $1,591,000 to $9,093,000; 472 percent