Bellevue, WA -- March 19, 2001 -- Laird Norton Trust Company, a wealth management and investment firm, has formed its first strategic alliance. The alliance is with Silicon Valley Bank, the nation's leading provider of financial products and services to emerging growth technology companies and their executives and advisors. This agreement partners the expertise of the Pacific Northwest's premier money management firm with the region's leader in financial services for the technology sector.
The alliance includes banks and other providers with expertise that is complementary to Laird Norton Trust's core competencies, according to Mary Justice senior vice president and managing director of business development and marketing. The program supports new relationships with organizations that provide specific expertise, products, and services required in today's fast moving financial environment.
"It's vitally important to us that our partners' approach to helping clients succeed is compatible with ours," said Justice. "We're confident that when we refer a client to Silicon Valley Bank, that client will receive outstanding financial expertise and the same kind of highly personalized, confidential, and meaningful experience that our company provides. It's a way to give clients with unique needs a broader array of support."
"We selected Laird Norton Trust because they are dominant and well-known in the region and are leaders in what they do. They offer great returns and a variety of products and services that will provide a number of valuable benefits to our clients," said Leslie Smith, leader of Silicon Valley Bank's Northwest Executive Banking Division. "We are excited about this alliance and the expanded services we can offer our clients."
Founded in 1967, Laird Norton Trust Company is one of the oldest private wealth management and investment firms in the Pacific Northwest. Headquartered in Seattle, with sales offices in Tacoma and Bellevue, Laird Norton Trust Company is a subsidiary of Laird Norton Financial Group, a wealth management firm with more than $6 billion in assets under management. Laird Norton Financial Group was ranked as the fourth largest money management firm in the Pacific Northwest in the October 2000 issue of Marple's Business Newsletter.
Silicon Valley Bank serves emerging growth and middle market companies in targeted niches, focusing on technology and life sciences, while also addressing other specific industries in which it can provide a higher level of service and better manage credit through specialization and focus.
The Bank operates throughout the Silicon Valley: Santa Clara, Palo Alto and Sand Hill, the center of the venture capital community in California. Other regional offices within California include: Irvine, Los Angeles, Napa Valley, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma. Office locations outside of California include: Phoenix, Arizona; Boulder, Colorado; West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Durham, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Northern Virginia; and Seattle, Washington.
SVB Contact: Andrea McGhee, (408) 654-3078, amcghee@svbank.com.