Apex Partners is taking its strategy of operating in regional markets to a new business front. The firm, which built its expansion targeting entrepreneurs and families outside the traditional Faria Lima axis, has just launched a multi-family office with which it intends to deepen its presence in wealth management among the very wealthy.
Apex presents itself as a platform for investments and structured financial services, operating in four areas: asset management, investment banking, advisory, and research. The group maintains hubs in Espírito Santo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Portugal.
The wealth management arm, Advisory, already has over R$17.5 billion under management, distributed across advisory services, securities consulting, and asset management. Now, it's adding a multi-family office , which will cater to families with at least R$50 million in net worth.
The new initiative starts with an initial base of R$ 4.2 billion and approximately 35 family groups, according to the company. This group was formed from clients that Apex already served within its advisory and wealth management structures, and who will now receive an additional layer of services.
The company's thesis is anchored in a very specific segment of the market. Instead of competing solely for the traditional wealth management client, more focused on liquid assets, Apex targets business families in the interior of the country, with wealth spread across real estate, equity stakes, productive assets, and businesses with strong regional ties.
“Our thesis is to be a Regional Mercantile Bank. And wealth management is an important arm to complement the service to these families and bring cross-selling of businesses to us,” said Pedro de Cesaro, general director of advisory at the company, in an interview with NeoFeed .
In practice, Apex attempts to exploit a gap left by large banks and platforms, which concentrate their efforts where there is a higher density of business and larger volumes under management. The company's discourse is that there is "another Brazil"—less visible to the traditional financial market, but rich in assets and controlling families.
This is a sensitive point because a large portion of the wealth that Apex aims to serve is precisely within families whose assets don't fit into a traditional liquid portfolio. These are groups where wealth is distributed among businesses, real estate, land, holdings, and corporate structures, which increases the demand for tax, estate, and asset planning.
Furthermore, MFO aims to take care of all of its clients' financial lives, with services such as concierge, account management, legal advice, and assistance with income tax returns.
"The focus is on serving these regional clients, the clients that Faria Lima doesn't want, as it only wants to serve the liquid part of the investments," explains Cesaro.
Although the head of the family office is based in São Paulo, Apex wants to use the network it has already built in other centers for origination, relationship building, and customer service. The company claims to have an organized presence in different regions of the country through its other business arms, as well as in Portugal, and wants to use this structure as a bridge to access wealth outside the major financial centers.
According to Apex, the profile of these families, who are more exposed to alternative assets and operational businesses such as real estate, farms, and companies, requires a wealth management approach that is more connected to the realities of local ecosystems.
The company is creating this area within a new regulatory landscape where the connection between illiquid and net worth has become more pronounced following the introduction of the 10% minimum tax rate and dividend payouts.
“We are already very close to these families’ businesses, and now we will also be close to their personal assets, managing everything at the same time and thus bringing more synergy to them and to us as a business,” explains de Cesaro.
