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Ms. Lebenthal, who climbed to the throne after the recent passing of Muriel Siebert, announces two key appointments at Lebenthal Holdings.
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Alexandra Lebenthal / Getty
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As she moves to expand the wealth management and investment advisory business that she owns, Alexandra Lebenthal of Lebenthal Holdings LLC has announced two key appointments to the company where she acts as President and CEO.
Jeffrey Lane has been appointed to the post of company firm’s chairman, while Frank Campanale will take up the role of CEO of the company’s wealth management division, with Andrew Grillo, the current CEO moving upstairs to become president of the division.
Ms Lebenthal has appointed Lane to expand the company’s wealth management and investment advisory division. According to Jeffrey Lane, who has rich experience in the investment market, the division which is currently handling around $500 million in assets has the potential to increase that figure up to fifty fold within next five years.
Alexandra Lebenthal and Jeffry Lane have a business relationship going back a number of years, with at one time Lane in his role as CEO of asset management firm Neuberger Berman Inc. had reached an advanced stage of negotiations on behalf of his company to acquire Lebenthal and company during the Noughties, before they were acquired by Advest.
The appointments are a sign that Ms. Lebenthal continues her drive to restore the municipal bond franchise her grandparents, Louis and Sayra Lebenthal, founded in New York in 1925 under the title of Lebenthal & Company that Ms. Lebenthal took over in 1995, when her father James retired.
Just six years later, Alexandra accepted an offer from Advest to acquire the company, with the Lebenthal name eventually disappearing a few years later when Wall Street brokers Merrill Lynch swallowed up Advest.
In 2007, Alexandra decided to resurrect the family name to form Lebenthal Holdings LLC, with the obvious first step being to approach Merrill Lynch to negotiate the conditions of buying back the company’s title. Ms. Lebenthal recalls that the negotiations were surprisingly straightforward and within record time almost ninety years of good will and a hard earned reputation for flawless business ethics and provision of impeccable and objective financial services were back in the family’s hands for the token sum of $1, 000.
The same year Lebenthal & Company began trading, initially to provide advisory services, wealth management as well as office management to small businesses and individuals, with Ms. Lebenthal in her role as CEO gradually expanding her staff to expand their depth as well as the range of the company’s specialized services.
In 2007 James Lebenthal rejoined the family business as chief investment officer and portfolio manager while a new division, Lebenthal Asset Management was created, to handle the management of municipal portfolios.
Two years later Lebenthal received certification of being a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council of New York State, followed by accreditation by a number of other US states and organizations.
Now six years after its re-launch, Alexandra Lebenthal is recognized as having restored Lebenthal & Company to its former status, while at the same possibly earning the title of most successful female owner of a financial institution in all of New York, sadly due to the passing of Muriel Siebert, CEO of Sie-bert Financial Corporation who passed away recently in the fullness of her years.
In a recent survey sponsored by American Express, it came to light that in the US a mere twenty percent of all finance based businesses are owned by women. When questioned on the subject Ms. Lebenthal explained that, in her opinion, the reason why there are so few women-owned firms on Wall Street, is because the percentage of females involved in medium to management positions in the financial industry are proportionately very low. Additionally, Ms. Lebenthal added “those with the ability to establish their own business, very rarely have sufficient capital or backing to get it off the ground.”
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