Portland’s profile continues to rise as a regional center for the wealth-management industry with the addition of a noted investment strategist.

Bob Gould recently joined Portland-based Spinnaker Trust as an executive vice president, principal and vice chairman, the company said Tuesday. Gould is a former general partner at New York-based Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., where he co-founded and led its private equity practice and eventually assumed responsibility for leadership of the firm’s overall investment and wealth management business.

His role at Spinnaker is to directly oversee alternative investments, provide strategic leadership and work with a substantial number of Spinnaker Trust’s larger clients, the company said.

Gould, who is 56, retired from Brown Brothers in 2010 after what he described as 80-hour work weeks and a long biweekly commute between Massachusetts and New York. He kept busy with other work, including as trustee and chairman of the investment committee of The Pinkerton Foundation in New York, which provides grants for youth development.

Still, Gould said he missed some aspects of his former career, such as mentoring younger employees. He set a new goal of finding a smaller firm where he could acquire an ownership stake while spending more time at home.

“If I was going to do it, I wanted a chance to be a substantial owner,” he said.

Although he declined to say how much he spent for his share of the business, he did characterize it as a minority share and not a controlling share.

Gould said Spinnaker had all of the qualities he was looking for: technical expertise, length of experience, a commitment to technology and a culture of service to clients.

“We have built a strong team over the years of top professionals who work together to develop solutions for our clients,” Spinnaker President Dick Curran said in a news release. “Bob’s addition to our team and the expansion of our ownership and leadership team solidifies Spinnaker as a firm of choice for wealthy families.”

Spinnaker has about $1.2 billion of client assets under management, compared with more than $40 billion under management at Brown Brothers. Its Portland location also was appealing to Gould, whose family has homes in Scarborough and Hamilton, Massachusetts.

A trust company helps its clients manage their wealth, such as by setting up and administering trusts. Clients are often those with a high net worth. It is a highly specialized business that places a great emphasis on long-term relationships.

The trust industry has been expanding in Portland, with existing companies adding staff and new ones entering the market. In one of the more recent developments, Androscoggin Bank applied for regulatory approval in June to spin off its trust department into a separate entity called Portland Trust Co., which would have offices in Portland and Lewiston.

Last July, New York-based NBT Bank opened an office in Portland focused on commercial lending and wealth management.

Gould, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University and a master’s of business administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University, said technology and economic recovery have helped boost the trust industry in Maine.

Many wealthy families have strong connections to the state, he said, even those who don’t reside in Maine year-round. Because modern technology allows trust clients to monitor their investments from anywhere in the world, Gould said, it isn’t necessary for them to choose a trust company in their primary state of residence.

“Geography is no longer a limit,” he said.

Gould is also vice chairman of Magnetic Analysis Corp., a maker of nondestructive testing equipment for the metals industry. He serves on the board of overseers of the New England Aquarium, the advisory board of the Yale School of Management, the board of Squash Haven Inc., and the board of Skillman Associates, the friends of Yale Squash.

He is also a member of the investment committee of The Hotchkiss School, is a past president of the Prouts Neck Association and is a co-manager of BPI Partners, which owns the Black Point Inn in Scarborough.

 

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