Ballentine Partners Appoints Drew McMorrow as President, Coventry Edwards-Pitt as Chief Wealth Advisory Officer

Waltham, MA, October 18, 2011 – Ballentine Partners, one of New England’s largest independent wealth managers, has named Drew McMorrow as President and Coventry Edwards-Pitt as Chief Wealth Advisory Officer. Previously, Mr. McMorrow and Ms. Edwards-Pitt served as Managing Directors and Senior Client Advisors at the firm.
Mr. McMorrow, CFP®, succeeds Roy Ballentine, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, the founder, CEO, and president of Ballentine Partners, which traces its roots to a firm founded by Ballentine in 1984. Mr. Ballentine will continue to play an active role in advising the firm’s ultra-high net worth families and providing the management team with strategic and operational guidance.

“It is very important to me and our team members that Ballentine Partners continue as an independent firm that is controlled by its senior staff. Today’s announcement is the culmination of a carefully designed succession planning process to ensure that this goal is fulfilled for the benefit of our clients and team members,” said Mr. Ballentine.

He added, “Drew and Covie have already proved themselves to be effective leaders. They have earned the respect of their colleagues and clients. They are committed to ensuring that Ballentine Partners remains independent and able to provide families with objective financial advice.”

In addition to his responsibilities as President, Mr. McMorrow will continue to consult with clients on a wide range of family financial issues. “Even as Ballentine Partners evolves under my and Covie’s leadership, Roy’s ethos of adding value to every aspect of our clients’ financial life will remain central to our firm,” Mr. McMorrow commented.

In her new role of Chief Wealth Advisory Officer, Ms. Edwards-Pitt, CFA, CFP®, will be responsible for the management and thought leadership of the firm’s wealth advising practice, ensuring outstanding advice and service across the firm’s 100+ client family relationships representing about $6.5 billion of assets under advisement. “Covie’s new role is a natural extension of her seven years of experience as a Senior Client Advisor to some of our largest clients, delivering sophisticated wealth management solutions to families across all aspects of their financial affairs,” said Mr. Ballentine.

“Ballentine Partners has always sought to be at the strategic forefront of helping families preserve, grow, and constructively harness their wealth. This is an energizing and guiding mission for us that challenges us to continually evolve and improve our best practices. I am thrilled to lead this effort,” said Ms. Edwards-Pitt.

About Drew McMorrow

Prior to joining Ballentine in 2002, Mr. McMorrow worked at Mercer Management Consulting, where he advised technology companies on their strategic plans. Previously, he was the Director of Business Operations at Oracle Corporation, where he directed financial and business analysis for procurement and distribution operations. He began his career at the Congressional Budget Office as an Analyst in the Tax Analysis Division.

Mr. McMorrow earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and degrees in Economics and International Relations, respectively, from Brown University. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. Drew was recognized by the Family Wealth Alliance as a “40minus Leader of 2009” and has been named three times to Barron’s Top 100 list of Independent Financial Advisors nationally, which Barron’s calls “America’s best.” Drew and his family live in the Boston area.

About Coventry Edwards-Pitt

Prior to joining Ballentine in 2004, Edwards-Pitt consulted to financial advisory firms on manager evaluation, investment research and marketing strategy through her own firm, Chauncy Street Consulting, LLC. She started her career at Goldman Sachs, where she was Chief of Staff of the firm’s Global Manager Strategies investment group.

Covie graduated with an AB from Harvard College. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. She has been named one of the “Top 50 Women in Wealth Management” for the last three consecutive years by Wealth Manager/AdvisorOne.com and was recently selected to the Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. She was recognized by the Family Wealth Alliance as a “40minus Leader of 2009” in March 2009 and was named one of the “20 Rising Stars of Wealth Management” by Institutional Investor News in September of 2008. Ms. Edwards-Pitt is a member of the Boston Foundation’s Professional Advisor Committee, is on the board of Emmanuel Music, and serves as a mentor with Year Up. Covie and her family live in the Boston area.