Lydian Unit Serving Advisors Aims to Grow Fast

A unit of Lydian Trust hopes to double the number of banks, trusts, and advisory firms it assists in meeting the investment needs of the very wealthy. To help it has hired a Riggs National veteran, Henry Morneault, as the chief operating officer of the unit, until recently named Advisor Solutions Group and now renamed Fortigent.

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based Fortigent provides technology, research, risk assessment, asset allocation tools, and back-office services to companies that want to offer a wide selection of investment managers. It is a subsidiary of the trust company's Lydian Wealth Management of Rockville, Md.

"We are at the point now where we are ready to expand," said Gary Carrai, Fortigent's managing director. "The technology is in place, the service team is in place, and we'll staff up as we grow this thing."

Though Fortigent is open to serving large banks, Carrai said, those more likely to be in interested in its services are "regional and community banks that are looking get a foothold in this market."

Fortigent's client list has doubled in the past year, to 20, which collectively advise on more than $2 billion of assets, Carrai said. Two are trust companies and six are banks, including its biggest customer, National City of Cleveland, which became a customer last July.

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