LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eric Grodan, a veteran in wealth transfer and foundation planning, who most recently served as senior vice president of Trust and Estate at Merrill Lynch, has joined the Los Angeles office of Abbot Downing as relationship manager. Abbot Downing, with $37.9 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, Grodan worked seven years at Merrill Lynch, where he provided investment advice and wealth transfer strategies for some of the firm’s largest clients. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Eric was director of gift planning for the California Community Foundation. In this role, Grodan developed planned gift and other programs that doubled in assets during his six-year tenure. Grodan is also founding partner of Grodan Law Group and served as council and director of gift planning at Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.
After earning a bachelor of arts degree in pre-law from Michigan State University, Grodan earned a juris doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law, and a master’s degree in laws of taxation from Loyola Law School. Grodan is past president of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council and has also served as vice president of the San Fernando Valley Estate Planning Council. Currently, he serves on the Investment Committee of the Global Board of Directors of Starlight Children’s Foundation.
“Eric has well established relationships and is well respected in the ultra-high-net-worth community in Los Angeles,” said Rich Byrd, Abbot Downing regional managing director for the Western Region. “We are delighted to have Eric join our Los Angeles 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.”
Grodan will work closely with a team of Abbot Downing professionals in Los Angeles and the Western Region who provide planning and family dynamics services, asset management, private banking, trust, fiduciary and administrative services.
In the local community, Abbot Downing and its team members have actively supported Villa Esperanza Services, the Children’s Burn Foundation, Homeboy Industries and the United Way.
About Abbot Downing
Abbot Downing serves clients in all 50 states through offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Scottsdale, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Naples, Palm Beach and other regional offices. 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 $1.6 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 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 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 and stories are also available at blogs.wellsfargo.com and at wellsfargo.com/stories.
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
