Cresset, a wealth management firm that serves ultrawealthy clients, said it has expanded to Boca Raton, Fla., and hired a financial advisor team that managed $4 billion in client assets at UBS to staff its new office.
The 16-person team is led by advisors Michael Bober and Ed Ventrice, both ranked advisors on Barron's 2026 Top 250 Private Wealth Teams list. The team also includes Michael MacDonald, William Marino, Sarah Ponczek, and Alex Santos, Cresset said.
Both Bober and Ventrice are longtime industry veterans, each with more than three decades of experience in the business, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by industry self-regulatory organization Finra. Bober and Ventrice also worked as Certified Public Accountants before joining the wealth management industry, according to Cresset.
Ventrice says they moved to Cresset because of the firm's capabilities and employee-owned business model. "Cresset's family office approach closely aligns with how we have always believed wealth should be managed-with a comprehensive, long-term perspective that extends well beyond investment management," Ventrice says.
A representative for UBS declined to comment.
Sunshine State. Florida's population has grown rapidly in recent years, and the state, which has no income tax, has become a magnet for the kind of wealthy clients that firms like Cresset seek to win. Florida's population rose to an estimated 23 million as of July 2025 from 18.8 million in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.
Cresset was founded in 2017 by Eric Becker and Avy Stein. The company specializes in serving ultrawealthy clients, providing services that include tax preparation, estate and trust planning, business succession planning, and access to medical and travel concierge services.
It has hired other advisor teams with large practices as it strives to expand its reach. For example, last month, Cresset picked up Chris Tiano and Nick Smith, an advisor duo who managed $1.1 billion at Lazard Wealth. In December, Cresset hired a team that managed $1.4 billion in client assets at Bernstein Private Wealth Management.
Last year, it merged with Monticello Associates, a Denver-based investment consulting firm that advised on $124 billion of assets held by endowments, foundations, and family offices.
Cresset has more than $260 billion in assets under advisement, according to the company. It is ranked No. 2 on Barron's Top 100 RIA Firms for 2025. Earlier this year, the company named Cresset President Susie Cranston as CEO.