CORAL GABLES TRUST FEATURED IN SOUTH FLORIDA BUSINESS JOURNAL

By: Marsha P. Smith
South Florida Business Journal

For Dean C. Klevan Jr., opening Coral Gables Trust Co. was about following and beating clichés.

First, he decided to "go where the money is." Klevan focused on the Pinecrest, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables areas when he looked for office space.

The demographics of those areas show tremendous wealth, he said. And in terms of comfort and accessibility to those areas, Coral Gables was a great location.

With the median value of owner-occupied units at $336,000, Gables dwellers' wallets are bulging. 2000 U.S. census figures put the city's median household income at $66,839, 130 percent more than the Florida median.

That demographic proves key to Klevan's company, where a client must have assets of at least $500,00 to invest.

As the company only serves domestic clients, Klevan stayed away from the Key Biscayne and Aventura areas, known for attracting Latin American business.

"With limited resources, it doesn't make sense to cast a net too wide," he said.

Second, his small firm aimed to disprove the common notion that "bigger is always better."

The firm has six employees and eight board members.

Hand-picking a portfolio

Jennifer Wherley-Diaz has been a customer of the company since it opened. The Coral Gables area resident joined the company last March after parting ways with a larger bank.

"We were with them for about four to five years and it was very impersonal," she said.

And although Klevan's company's proximity to Wherley-Diaz's residence is convenient, she said, it was not the deciding factor in selecting the firm.

"One of the things I like about this company is that they sit down and hand-pick your portfolio, and they are also very accessible."

Service is of prime importance to Coral Gables Trust, as it relies heavily on referrals to grow.

"If you do well, your name gets known. People don't open the directory and say 'Oh! Coral Gables Trust,'" Klevan said.

Wherley-Diaz said the service at the company was an improvement over her experience with bigger banks.

"Whenever I called my old bank for anything, I always got the runaround," she said. "At Coral Gables Trust, they call me and ask if everything is OK."

Still, performance plays a major role in the company's development. Wherley-Diaz said her assets are performing better now than when they were in a bank. According to Klevan, toward the end of 2005, many clients were up 8 percent for the year, in contrast to 5 percent for the S&P 500 for the same period.

"We are on our way to target," he said.