• Alternative Investments

What “White Glove” Service Means to PPB Capital Partners

By Brendan W. Lake
Founder and CEO
PPB Capital Partners

As alternative investments continue to gain traction among private wealth advisors, there is an increasing need to assist those who are guiding the current and future generations of high-net-worth investors. When I founded PPB Capital Partners in 2008, I did so with the vision of being an advocate for these advisors. Since I opened the doors 14 years ago, our service model remains the same: to provide access to premier alternative investment solutions to the private wealth community with “white glove” service that involves real conversation between our team and an advisor.

To some, that notion sparks a logical question: “Doesn’t every business provide ‘white glove’ service?” Quite frankly, the answer is no. To us at PPB, it’s not hyperbole. It’s the crux of our business model. It’s treating you, the private wealth advisor, the same way we would want to be treated.

Attempting to define a true “white glove” experience can spark some interesting discussion. But it can uncover some new practices that may enhance your delivery. Since a white glove has five fingers, it makes sense to define what it means to PPB in five steps:

• Discovering the client’s needs
• Collaborating to offer advice
• Customization for clients
• Pricing for the client’s benefit
• You make the decisions

Discovering the client’s needs

Imagine you’re a doctor and a new patient comes to your office looking for a diagnosis. To provide the most appropriate treatment, you’re going to ask as many questions as you can to properly assess the patient. PPB’s role when meeting with private wealth advisors like you is no different.

This is often an exciting meeting because we start with a blank canvas, and we’re getting ready to help you paint a masterpiece. It’s a masterpiece that will be essential to your client’s road to a comfortable retirement.

Very few stones are left unturned during this meeting, because the more information we have on your client’s current portfolio, their goals and their requests, the better. The idea of one-size-fits-all doesn’t even enter our minds. Clients are individuals. It makes sense that their portfolios should reflect that uniqueness.

Collaborating to offer advice

The information from that discovery meeting provides a foundation. We use that information to collaborate with you, offering advice that will best fit the client. There are also times when private wealth advisors come to PPB with a strategy, or have a fund identified but want to simplify their asset allocation processes. Regardless of how the engagement is initiated, we aim to build the most appropriate structures that consist of proper strategies.

A truly authentic relationship starts to form as we help you carry out your fiduciary duty to the client. This part of the process is now more important than ever.

With public markets experiencing such volatility and inflation increasing, clients are more likely to have questions about strategies with which they may be unfamiliar. We are there to answer questions, recommend solutions and provide proper guidance.

Customization for clients

It’s not a stretch to say the last three years have raised the customer service bar across all industries. I can now buy anything from household cleaning products to a new trampoline for my daughter with just a few taps on an iPhone while sitting on my couch. Since the pandemic, the demand for retailers to meet customers’ expectations of convenience have gone from “nice to have” to “must have.”

In our business, it’s the same for the client experience. You have a fiduciary duty to act in the clients’ best interest. That’s a defined fact. As your partner, PPB also has a fiduciary duty. While it may not be as “officially” defined as your duty, we treat it as such.

The duty we carry out to you creates an efficient process to onboard, maintain and report on clients’ portfolios. Subscription documents can be cumbersome. As more clients enter the alternative investment space, workloads on your staff will increase. We create streamlined workflows that meet this demand. There’s a mutual benefit for you and the client because they expect convenience and customization … and rightfully so.

Pricing for the client’s benefit

The official launch of PPB in the summer of 2008 was only a few months before Bernie Madoff was exposed and not long before the financial crisis gripped the economy. There were times I didn’t think our firm would make it.

I was cautious during those early years. I watched every expense closely and made it through the tough times of 2008, 2009 and 2010. Along the way, I learned volumes of lessons that continue to shape what PPB Capital Partners is today.

Expenses we incur impact a fund’s IRR and MOIC. In turn, that impacts your client’s return and their overall investment experience. We don’t push these expenses into the fund structure, nor do we bury them deep in the fine print of fund documentation, only to disguise them as fees.

We have never taken any capital from professional investors, we have zero debt, and we are 100% owned and operated by employees and high-net-worth families. We are a lean organization with a network of relationships with private wealth advisory firms across the country. This is all part and parcel to a vision that increases high-net-worth clients’ access to alternative investment strategies in streamlined, transparent and cost controlled structures.

You make the decisions

One of the most rewarding parts of the relationship you have with a client is the personal connection. Over time, you learn their needs, wants, likes and dislikes. Like any healthy relationship, there should be an element of back and forth across the desk or the meeting room table so those needs, wants, likes and dislikes are brought out in the open.

This is why, after all the work PPB does to guide, counsel and create a great experience, YOU make the decisions. In our relationship, you are the person steering the ship.

The spotlight shines brightest at the end of the process. And with the best interest of the client at top of mind, ultimately giving you the autonomy to have final say in all investment decisions is not only a best practice, but also the right thing to do for the client.

Emphasizing “White Glove” Service

Advances in technology have created a can-you-top-that race to create the most digital user experience possible. For many industries and businesses, that’s exactly where they should be focused. However, there is a great amount of satisfaction that comes from delivering personal client service. Other alternative investment platforms have abandoned this concept, instead turning to technology and automated processes as reasons to replace a handshake and a constructive conversation between partners.

It’s the 21^st  century, and we aren’t blind to the fact that technology can be an efficient tool for our industry. But we do not rely on it as the keystone of our relationship with you. Human connections matter. Personalized support for your high-net-worth investors remains our priority now, just as it was in 2008.

 

 

Important Disclosures

The views and opinions expressed in this document should not be construed as recommendations, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to acquire any security, investment product, or service. Any offering of securities will only be made pursuant to a private placement memorandum or similar document prepared by the Fund and subscription documents, all of which must be read in their entirety. This document to be used by investment professionals only.

PPB Capital Partners, LLC has prepared this material utilizing information from the underlying investments, general market knowledge, and additional third parties, including projected performance, and took reasonable care to ensure the accuracy of the information. Neither PPB Capital Partners, LLC, its affiliates, or the Fund warrants its completeness, accuracy or adequacy, and it should not be relied upon as such. This information provided in this document is only a summary as of the date referenced and may or may not be updated to reflect subsequent events. The statements included in this material may constitute “forward-looking statements” and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. Some of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes”, “expects”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “seeks”, “approximately”, “intends”, “plans”, “estimates”, or “anticipates”, or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Due to these various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results of the actual performance of an investment may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements and no assurances can be given with respect thereto.

Some information in this document is obtained from various sources that PPB Capital Partners, LLC believes to be reliable, but it makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of such information. PPB Capital Partners, LLC’s respective officers, owners, or employees do not accept any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this presented content. This presented information is produced solely for the recipient and may not be transmitted, reproduced or made available to any other person. PPB Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of PPB Capital Partners, LLC is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) pursuant to Section 203(c)(2)(A) of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.

Certain securities offered through Registered Representatives with Vigilant Distributors LLC (Member FINRA/ SIPC), which is not affiliated with PPB Capital Partners or its affiliates.