Harris myCFO is the American

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...

unit of

BMO Harris Bank BMO Harris Bank, N.A. is an American bank based in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of the Federal Reserve System and operates branches in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Florida, Wisconsin, and California ...

serving

high-net-worth individual High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are defined ...

s and families. In 2002, Harris acquired certain assets of myCFO, Inc., founded by

James H. Clark James Henry Clark (born March 23, 1944) is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in comput ...

, in a $30 million deal. Harris myCFO provides a variety of services including investment advisory and

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer w ...

services. Harris myCFO managed over $18 billion in assets in 2011 and ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' ranked the company seventh on a list of top fee-only investment advisors.

Services

Harris myCFO

Harris myCFO is a brand used by Harris myCFO Inc. offering integrated wealth management with independent investment advisory services and the comprehensive capabilities of a multi-family office. These services include

investment advisory An Investment advisory, in financial/investment organizations, is the unit linking the investment professionals in the central asset management unit (Investment Research, Portfolio Management) to the relationship managers and/or to important clien ...

tax planning Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdic ...

financial reporting Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...

and

expense management Expense management refers to the systems deployed by a business to process, pay, and audit employee-initiated expenses. These costs include, but are not limited to, expenses incurred for travel and entertainment. Expense management includes the poli ...

estate planning Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person's life, for the management and disposal of that person's estate during the person's life, in the event the person becomes incapacitated and after death. The planning inc ...

and trust services, risk management and insurance advisory,

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

planning, family education, capital advisory, and custom banking. The president of Harris myCFO is Joe Calabrese, who has led the company since 2002.

Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services LLC

Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services LLC, is a

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

-registered investment advisor and certain divisions of Harris N.A. are national banks with trust powers. Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services, LLC works with affluent clients by integrating their investment planning and financial services. Craig Rawlins is the president of Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services LLC. Harris announced the hiring of Rawlins in December 2009; he previously worked as director of client services at Russell Investment Group and held positions at

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

and Gresham Partners.

Harris myCFO, Inc.

Harris myCFO, Inc. provides family office services. Family office services include financial planning and coordination, wealth transfer planning, tax planning, risk management and insurance, philanthropic planning, expense management, bill payment, family education, estate and trust services, liquidity strategies, and comprehensive financial reporting. John Benevides is a president of Harris myCFO Inc. overseeing Family Office Services for the company. Benevides' appointment was announced in October 2010; prior to his appointment at Harris myCFO, he was co-owner and President of Family Office Exchange (FOX).

Recognition

*Ranked 7th on ''

'', "Top 50 Financial Advisors" list (2011) *Ranked 9th on Bloomberg Markets’ "Top 50 Family Offices" list (2011) *Ranked 3rd on Forbes "Top 50 Fee-Only Advisers" list (2008)

Locations

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

, California *

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois *

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington *

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, New York *

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California *

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California

Criticism

In 2002 myCFO was implicated in a federal investigation involving questionable

tax shelter Tax shelters are any method of reducing taxable income resulting in a reduction of the payments to tax collecting entities, including state and federal governments. The methodology can vary depending on local and international tax laws. Types of ...

s. In July 2005, the

American Arbitration Association The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court, and one of several arbitr ...

ruled against myCFO and its partners for its involvement. On February 13, 2008, a federal trial court delivered a

criminal conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", w ...

on Graham Taylor, a tax attorney associated with myCFO; Taylor had pleaded

guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

on January 24, 2008, to conspiracy and aiding in the filing of a false tax return. Taylor used to be with the LeBoeuf law firm, which was used by myCFO selling tax shelter products. The tax accountants and attorneys, including Taylor, convicted in 2008, had been indicted in November 2005 for conspiring to

defraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

the United States and to commit mail and wire fraud, including

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

and assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

References

External links

Harris myCFO website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris Mycfo Bank of Montreal American companies established in 1999 myCFO Financial services companies of the United States Corporate scandals Companies based in California 1999 establishments in the United States 1999 establishments in California 2002 mergers and acquisitions