CEO lets go to help spur firm's growth

Caldwell Trust Co. ended 2011 with a major milestone, when the Venice-based firm surpassed $500 million in assets under management for the first time.

But while halfway to $1 billion is certainly a big accomplishment, R.G. “Kelly” Caldwell Jr. says how the firm got there is even more significant than the actual dollars. Indeed, Caldwell, president and CEO of the firm, delicately walked over one of an entrepreneur's thinnest tightropes: The art of letting go, and allowing employees to make key decisions.

Those employees, especially the nine trust officers who make up the bulk of the staff, are the people who are entrusted, literally and figuratively, with bringing in more assets. They also are responsible for maintaining the current assets. Caldwell Trust Co. has hired three new officers since late 2010.

Caldwell, who founded the firm in 1993 with his father, has since made a point to provide the staff direction, not directives. “They function as real decision-makers for our firm,” Caldwell tells Coffee Talk. “And our clients love that.”

Caldwell Trust hit the $500 million mark in the 2011 fourth quarter, less than two years after it crossed the $400 million in assets under management threshold. The firm, with offices in Venice and Sarasota, offers a full range of trustee and fiduciary services. It also manages 401(k) and 403(b) qualified retirement plans for employers.

In addition to an autonomous atmosphere for employees, Caldwell attributes the increase in assets to the fact that the firm kept its independence during a tumultuous period. The trust offices in big national banks, meanwhile, have taken an image hit the past few years. “The industry has really been damaged,” says Caldwell. “It works to our benefit because we are not them.”