Boston Financial joins growing field of wealth management firms in Portland
Photo/ Renee Cordes
Boston Financial Management recently opened an office in Portland, which is staffed by associate wealth manager Katie Exchange (left) and managing director Abby Psyhogeos.
Boston Financial Management is the newest wealth management and investment advisory firm to hang out a shingle in Portland in order to better serve high-net-worth clients in southern Maine.
Managing director Abby Psyhogeos, who works with associate wealth manager Katie Exchange, estimates that close to two-thirds of her clients — with a net worth of $2 million and above — are in southern Maine and the rest in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Both sat down with Mainebiz for an interview last week, a few days before their first scheduled client meeting in the new office, located in the Old Port.
Boston Financial has $2.4 billion in assets under management, of which $216.5 million is managed by the Maine office.
Its expansion to Portland comes amid a flurry of industry activity in Portland, with four ex-UBS bankers launching Great Diamond Partners in Portland and F.L. Putnam Investment Management Co. settling into a larger space across the street from its former office.
Asked what sets Boston Financial apart, Psyhogeos pointed to its set-up as an employee-owned firm with a well-structured succession plan. Close to half the firm's 40 employees are shareholders.
She also highlighted its team approach, which includes an investment team (based in Boston) whose equity focus is on high-quality mid-cap companies.
“It’s unique from anything I’ve seen at places I’ve worked,” she said.
Though she used to serve Maine clients from Boston, she said it’s much better to have a physical presence in Portland.
Coming home to Maine
Psyhogeos grew up in Falmouth, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1987 and returned to Maine 30 years later as an employee of F.L.Putnam, where she first crossed paths with Katie Exchange.
In July 2018 Psyhogeos joined Boston Financial with plans to open a Portland office as soon as the team could find space and get set up.
Exchange, who was recently promoted from client services associate and is preparing for certification as a financial planner, said they had looked at four or five buildings before deciding, and ruled out ones without an elevator or parking access.
“We really wanted something with the Portland character, and we love being on Commercial Street,” Exchange said. “This had everything we needed all wrapped into one.”
Located in the historic Thomas Block Building at 100 Commercial St., the 4,000-square-foot space — Boston Financial’s only office outside of Beantown — is bright and airy with window views of the working waterfront, Maine-accented art, and living room-like seating areas.
“We didn’t want the old, your grandfather’s wealth-management firm look,” Psyhogeos told Mainebiz.
Exchange described the decor as modern industrial rustic, which she said is very "in" right now and especially welcoming to female clients.
Psyhogeos, who lives with her family in Yarmouth, still has to go to Boston every few weeks but appreciates a much shorter commute here as well as being closer to extended family and clients she finds to be warm and genuine.
“The people up here are great and it’s been very welcoming to be home," she said.
She also has high praise for Exchange, saying: "Katie has the characteristics to be an amazing wealth manager. She is smart, hard working and genuinely cares about her clients and doing the best she can for them. I'm constantly impressed by her maturity and work ethic. [Boston Financial], and our clients, are fortunate to have her on our team."
Short-term hiring plans for the new office include office support, and then after that a client services associate.
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