City National's multifamily office subsidiary builds out Los Angeles office. Former Northern Trust regional president Donald Berghoff has joined Convergent Wealth Advisors (CWA) as a managing director in its new Los Angeles office. He reports to the multifamily office's chief of staff Lawrence Miles, who is based in Los Angeles.

"Don brings with him tremendous industry knowledge and we are confident that he will play a critical role as we expand our presence in Los Angeles," says CWA's chairman and CEO Steve Lockshin. "We are very pleased to welcome Don to the Convergent team."

Dynamic

Rockville, Md.-based CWA used to be Lydian Wealth Management. Its erstwhile corporate parent, Palm Beach, Fla.-based Lydian, sold it to Los Angeles-based City National Corporation about a year ago. Now it's part of City National's Convergent Capital Management, a Chicago-based holding company for asset- and wealth-management boutiques. When the merger was announced, CWA said it planned to open a Los Angeles office by the end of 2007 -- a pledge it honored by opening for business in Los Angeles in last year's fourth quarter, according to spokeswoman Laura Smith.

Berghoff was with Northern Trust for about 10 years; first as head of its Family Advisory Services office in Westwood, Calif., then as a region president with responsibility for the that office plus two others in the Los Angeles area.

Before joining Northern Trust, Berghoff was with the Private Bank of Bank of America (now part of Bank of America's U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management), where he was head of operations for five offices.

Berghoff describes CWA as a "dynamic and growing company" that benefits from its association with the City National brand."As a result, I believe that Convergent has a tremendous opportunity for growth in Los Angeles and I look forward to helping lead that effort," he says.

CWA, which advises on assets of about $7 billion, provides investment-consulting and wealth-management services to ultra-high-net-worth families and individuals. It has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle and -- thanks to its Beltway headquarters -- the Washington, D.C., area. -FWR

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