During an entrepreneurship class at Southern Methodist University, a professor asked Drew Swedlund’s class who was ready to start a business. Every hand in the room went up—except Swedlund’s. “I’ve always dreamed of being an entrepreneur, but I wanted to find the right opportunity where I could build something special and make a difference for people,” Swedlund explained. He soon realized his interests in investing and building trusted relationships were the perfect fit for wealth management.
Swedlund received a job offer from UBS PaineWebber upon graduation. There he met his business partner, Darrel Preston, and became a partner on the team at age 24. Eventually, Swedlund took a post as senior vice president and sales manager at Merrill Lynch, where he stayed for more than a decade. For a few of those years, he led the company’s Dallas training program. “We had about 80 people that I was mentoring and teaching about the business,” he says. “It was a great opportunity to give back while searching for the best young advisor to join our team.” He eventually met his business partner and successor, Lauren Turbitt. During the height of COVID, Swedlund’s team was invited to join the New York- based Rockefeller Global Family Office. It was a unique opportunity to bring resources and investment opportunities built for families like the Rockefellers to ultra-high-net-worth clients in Texas.
Now, 22 years into his career in wealth management, Swedlund leads a team of 6 that specializes in holistic planning for business owners. “The needs and complexities of being a business owner are unique,” Swedlund explains. “There is often a fine line between their identity as a person and their role as an owner.” Swedlund helps the owners envision what their purpose will be after selling and develops plans for how they can comfortably continue their lifestyle after leaving the business. “We help them build their entire strategic team including M&A professionals, tax specialists, estate planning attorneys and business coaches. We remain trusted advocates through the entire process and aim to help them achieve a strategy that they’re proud of,” Swedlund says.
Rockefeller offers its clients exclusive investment opportunities, including tapping into television and song royalties, direct ownership in sports franchises, and more. “We're intentionally trying to stay smaller, so we can bring those opportunities,” Swedlund says. He adds that “Our goal is to be the first team Texas families think of when they’re considering selling a business and need generational wealth management.”