NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lester Law, a 20-year veteran in financial and estate planning services who most recently served as a managing director of the National Wealth Strategist Group at U.S. Trust, has joined the Naples office of Abbot Downing as director of client management. Abbot Downing, with $35 billion in client assets and a 40-year history serving ultra-high-net-worth clients, is part of Wells Fargo’s Wealth, Brokerage and Retirement group, a leading U.S. wealth manager, with $1.5 trillion in client assets.
Before joining Abbot Downing, Law worked seven years at U.S. Trust, where he provided estate and financial planning solutions for some of the firm’s largest clients. While there, he also educated colleagues regarding cutting edge estate planning techniques and changes in tax and estate laws. Further, he was responsible for writing white papers and speaking publicly on recent changes in the transfer and income tax laws that affected high net worth clients. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, Law worked 13 years as an estate and tax attorney in Naples. Before attending law school, he was a certified public accountant at Price Waterhouse Coopers for three years. Law obtained his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting at Florida International University, his master of science in taxation degree from the University of Miami, his juris doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of laws in taxation degree from the University of Florida.
Law lectures at the Florida Trust School and will be an adjunct professor at the Ave Maria University School of Law in 2014. Law currently serves in leadership positions in both the American Bar Association’s Real Property Trust and Estate Section and the Florida Bar’s Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section.
Matt Robertson, Abbot Downing managing director for the Southeast Region, said, “We are delighted to have Lester join our Naples team with such depth and breadth of experience. Successful individuals and families are looking for wealth managers who can see a bigger picture perspective to help them use their wealth to positively impact their families and their communities.”
Law will work closely with a team of Abbot Downing professionals in Naples and the Southeast Region who provide planning and family dynamics services, asset management, private banking, trust, fiduciary and administrative services.
Law joins a team of professionals serving clients in the Abbot Downing Naples office that includes:
- Jeff Erickson, head of investment strategies
- John Esquivel, associate, client services
- Chuck Jandourek, director, asset management
- Nick Smith, analyst, asset management
In the local community, Abbot Downing and its team members have actively supported Feeding South Florida, Special Olympics, Cancer Alliance of Naples, Humane Society, the Education Foundation of Collier County, United Way, and the Holocaust Museum and Community School of Naples.
About Abbot Downing
Abbot Downing serves clients in all 50 states through offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Scottsdale, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Naples, Jacksonville, and Palm Beach. Abbot Downing is the world’s eighth-largest family office based on assets, according to the 2012 Bloomberg Markets survey. Wells Fargo launched the Abbot Downing brand on April 2, 2012, combining two Wells Fargo ultra-high-net-worth businesses. The original Abbot Downing built the iconic stagecoaches that have come to represent Wells Fargo.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at blogs.wellsfargo.com.
Abbot Downing, a Wells Fargo business, provides products and services through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and its various affiliates and subsidiaries. Some alternative investments and complementary strategies may be available to pre-qualified investors only. Certain products and services offered subject to credit approval or credit qualification.
Wells Fargo Bank, N. A. Member FDIC, NMLSR ID 399801
