In Marcia Nelson, Texas Capital Got a New York Banker Who Can Bring Family-Office Events In-House

Texas Capital, the publicly traded bank that has transformed itself into a full-service firm over the past five years, wanted to do more business with family offices. But it didn’t look to another veteran private banker, legal strategist or consultant to join it at the Dallas headquarters. Instead, in December last year, Texas Capital hired Marcia Nelson, a regular host of investment events for the ultrawealthy with deep relationships that the bank hopes can help make its pitches more exact.

Initially, Texas Capital thought Nelson would be part of its private bank, even though she had never worked at one and was unsure what value she would bring.

Nelson, a Utah native, moved to New York City decades ago and became a school teacher, a job she “didn’t love.” Open to a pivot, she worked as an assistant in fashion publishing, then for a billionaire philanthropist and, while getting her M.B.A., at the private-equity firm Carlyle Group. She also worked for a high-profile entertainment executive.

For the philanthropist, Nelson was part of an eight-person team with many responsibilities. “This wasn't called a family office, but…we did everything for her life, from private security and hiring, to booking airplanes, to planning events, to overseeing housekeeping staff, and all that kind of stuff,” Nelson said. “This is pre-social media, and even then she had a stalker.”

During years of doing business development for accounting firms and then Alberleen Group, a company backed by family offices that structured and co-invested directly in companies in the alternative and renewable energy, healthcare, real estate and technology sectors, Nelson established an even greater network of family offices and hosted events for them.

“Conferences have just come with me,” Nelson said about her career, and so she made a proposal to Texas Capital: “Why don't you send a couple of people to my family-office conferences? I know what I have. Is it what you want?"

And it was.

Family-office events have been around for decades, but as the number of single-family offices and their wealth have grown over the past several years, a conference complex has formed. Many gatherings exist, and it can be hard for offices and sponsors to know which ones are worthwhile. The largest banks and asset managers are fully aware of the opportunity and value of gathering their family-office clients and prospects in person and have created, invested in and steadily grown events of their own. (The annual Goldman Sachs Apex Global Family Office Symposium is an especially hot ticket.)

It might take years for a from-scratch family-office event endeavor to be fruitful. With Nelson, Texas Capital got its own practically overnight. They’ve hosted a 100-person gathering in Utah, a 150-person one in Dallas, a smaller event in Montauk, New York, and others.

“I've been running these conferences for 10 years, with minimal to no support; ironing tablecloths in my hotel room, the banner or the name tags myself. Having this really wonderful operations and event team, and a marketing team and people like Paige [Maurer] on the social media stuff, really showcased that Texas Capital cares about [family offices], that they cared about me and that they wanted this community,” Nelson said.

At Texas Capital, instead of joining the private bank, Nelson is the executive director and head of family office coverage for the investment bank, where she said she’s already molding how they pitch opportunities to those clients. When she arrived, fellow bankers would tell her about an investment and ask if she knew 15 offices that might be interested. Nelson said no; she might know three worth contacting.

Most family offices, she explained, are only making a couple of direct investments per year, so “you need to have a lot of them in your network, and you need to be patient. And you need, frankly, somebody like me who can be out talking to them all the time…to build that level of trust with them.” Nelson said. “It's very, very laser focused.”

Deals are great, but what Nelson likes about Texas Capital, unlike her previous jobs, is that she’s selling more than a single thing or service. Seh added: “It's been really, really fun at Texas Capital to be able to just provide solutions for whatever the families are looking for.”

The COVID-19 pandemic set off a migration of professionals from California, New York and Boston to Texas and Florida. That continues today, and family offices and financial services firms have followed. As much as ever, there are reasons to be a “bridge” between New York, where Texas Capital recently opened a new office, and Dallas every month, and make half a dozen trips every year to Utah, according to Nelson.

“I tell people I'm bilingual. I speak Utah and New York, which are very different languages, I have to say,” Nelson explained. “But I am learning to say y'all. I like y'all. I think that's a lovely phrase.”

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