New Age

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New Age
Joel Ravitz

When Quincy Cass first set up his investment firm, there were no Bloomberg terminals that could track any stock in the world. Nobody paid attention to CNBC, because the channel didn’t exist. Neither did television. The Securities and Exchange Commission wouldn’t be created for another dozen years.

Quincy Cass Associates was founded in 1922 in downtown Los Angeles and moved to West Los Angeles in 1986. It’s an old firm with old clients and an old investment team. The company’s research director, 89-year-old Frank Foellmer, the late founder’s son-in-law, holds certification number 807 out of 112,966 from the CFA Institute for investment professionals.

Today, the management of Quincy Cass wants to give a new look to an old-fashioned company. The firm named 46-year-old Mark Minichiello as president early this year, and it’s looking to add a handful of younger investment advisers. And for the first time in its history, Quincy Cass is spreading the word in industry circles to try to get new clients in order to ensure the firm’s long-term survival.

“We never looked for clients because they were all family, friends or referrals,” said Joel Ravitz, the 68-year-old chairman of Quincy Cass. “The world has changed and we want to make Quincy Cass known. We’ve been a very well-kept secret for a long time.”

However, as it builds for the future, the firm will preserve the founder’s philosophy. Quincy Cass was a deep-value investor who was as conservative in his stock picks as he was in his wardrobe, and this was a man who never went to the office without his hat.

“I want Quincy Cass Associates to continue on with the sensibility that Quincy had,” said Ravitz.

The firm would not disclose the amount of its assets under management; Ravitz would only say “low nine figures.”

It’s L.A.’s oldest money management firm that’s still running. The next oldest, Capital Group, was founded in 1931, and after that is Everett Harris & Co., founded in 1937.

Deep value

Cass was a Southern California native who graduated from Stanford law school and practiced law for years. He initially founded his firm to manage money for family and friends, and in the 92 years since, not much about this mission has changed. The firm still takes a conservative, bottom-up approach, starting by determining a client’s goals and developing an investment plan from there. Clients are wealthy individuals and their family members.

“This was a family office before that became a hot name,” said Ravitz. “We still manage five generations of Cass family funds. This sets the tone for the culture of the firm.”

Ravitz worked alongside Cass for more than 13 years and fondly recalls the man’s old-school mentality. Cass prohibited his staff from walking the hallways in shirtsleeves because he believed it unprofessional to be in a public space without wearing a suit jacket. He once told Ravitz about his dismay when he saw the first person on the floor of the old Los Angeles Stock Exchange who had the temerity to wear a sports jacket.

Cass’ personal style might have been of a different era, but his value-driven investment philosophy remains relevant today. He believed in buying strong companies in basic industries that paid high dividends and holding them for an extended period of time.

“As archaic as he seems, his investment advice is absolutely sound today,” said Ravitz. “He was a Warren Buffett before Warren.”

Minichiello is only the third president of Quincy Cass Associates and the first not from the Cass family. Nearly 30 percent of the firm’s clients have been with Quincy Cass since at least the 1950s.

The office staff sticks around, too. Rebecca Terrazas, an executive vice president, is 57 and is celebrating her 40th anniversary at the firm. Lupe Benitez, 40, the company’s director of client services, has been there 21 years.

Marathon man

Quincy Cass retired as president in 1976 but never stopped working. He died in 1984 on a Monday; he’d come to the office the previous Friday. Charles G. Bragg, another son-in-law of Cass, succeeded him and died in 2001. Ravitz chose to remain in his role as chairman and keep the presidency vacant until he found the right successor – who was just down the hall.

Minichiello had moved from his hometown of Chicago to Los Angeles in 2004 to serve as a subadviser to a mutual fund, and he rented space in Quincy Cass’ office. As he and Ravitz got to know each other, they found that they saw eye to eye on their investment philosophies.

Minichiello joined the firm in 2009, was promoted to chief investment officer the following year and stepped into his new role Jan. 1, tasked with finding new clients and becoming the face of the next generation of Quincy Cass.

“He can relate better to younger people,” Ravitz said. “That’s part of his portfolio here, to be the young guy in the firm.”

Ravitz gets in about 9 a.m. and works late, while Minichiello gets to the office at about 6 a.m. and leaves about 3 p.m. so he can squeeze in an afternoon run. He’s a marathoner, so he doesn’t worry about other joggers sprinting ahead of him, just keeping a consistent pace.

The firm he now heads has been through numerous market cycles, depressions and wars, always relying on a slow and steady approach to keep moving forward.

“We really are the tortoise,” said Ravitz. “We’re going to be around for the next 90 years.”

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