By Steve Garmhausen
Charles "Chase" Johnson didn't just grow up around the asset-management giant Franklin Templeton -- he grew up with an insider's perspective on it. Johnson is the son of former Franklin Templeton co-president Charles "Chuck" Johnson; the grandson of Charles B. Johnson; great-grandson of Franklin's founder, Rupert H. Johnson Sr.; and the nephew of current CEO Jenny Johnson.
He remembers peppering his father with questions about asset management but never felt any family pressure to join the $1.6 trillion business: It was pretty obvious he'd wind up there one day. The 29-year-old did indeed join the family firm three and a half years ago, but in a wholly owned wealth management subsidiary rather than the core investment business, and after a stint at the competition.
Speaking with Barron's Advisor, Johnson, a wealth director at $105 billion-asset Fiduciary Trust International, explains his perspective on the company. "I'm always thinking about the business from a 360-degree view, because I'm also a client of the firm," he says. "So that perspective pushes me to constantly look for ways to improve, whether it's through operational efficiency, technical expertise, investment insights, or technology innovation."
Raised as a Johnson, did you always plan to be a part of the industry? I've always been fascinated by finance. Some of my earliest memories are of grilling my dad about the industry at the dinner table until he was tired of answering questions. He started the international business in the 1980s in Taiwan and India and then Singapore, and it was fascinating to go to some of those places with him. By middle school, I was buying stocks for my personal portfolio, which sparked lasting curiosity about markets and investing. I got my official start in the business in the wealth advisory division of UBS while still in college.
The professor of a family-business class at University of Southern California suggested that students go work for a competitor, and after graduation, that's what I did. I joined Rockefeller Capital Management, which then had roughly $10 billion in assets and grew to well over $100 billion during my tenure there. That experience taught me firsthand how growth-stage firms operate, and it gave me a nice perspective on evaluating alternative investments, which was a big focus there. At Franklin Templeton, building out alternative investment capabilities has become a big strategic priority, so I had a nice foundation for when I transferred here.
Did the folks at Rockefeller understand that you were only there temporarily? There was no finite timeline. I was enjoying working with the first wealth advisor who was hired on the West Coast. I was interested in entrepreneurs and figuring out investment allocations along with estate planning. I had figured at some point I was going to have to learn more about those things, and then I realized I was actually passionate about them. Three years into it, my dad passed away, and it just felt like the right time. And I've been working at Fiduciary Trust now for three and a half years, and it has been an amazing experience.
Can you describe the work you're doing now? At Fiduciary Trust we focus on the three pillars of wealth management: investing, estate planning, and then taxes. So day-to-day, I collaborate with portfolio managers and estate planners as well as tax specialists to make sure our clients' needs are not only met, but exceeded. One of our greatest areas of interest is helping clients navigate the transition of ownership and control of family businesses to the next generation, integrating this planning into their broader wealth and estate management strategy.
The investment side tends to be more time-intensive. Translating a client's evolving goals and market views -- because a lot of our clients have market views -- in an actionable direction for portfolio managers is critical to our business. Once we factor in the client's goals and market views, we work diligently to find the right asset allocation to balance capital preservation, while figuring out ways to generate alpha. I'm always thinking about the business from a 360-degree view, because I'm also a client of the firm. So that perspective pushes me to constantly look for ways to improve, whether it's through operational efficiency, technical expertise, investment insights, or technology innovation.
Who are your clients? Our youngest client is 24, and we have clients all the way up to their 70s. They are entrepreneurs, real estate agents who have their own businesses, law professionals; it runs the gamut. We serve nonprofits as well, and we're beginning an athlete division.
You've mentioned alternative investments a couple of times. What role should alternatives play in a portfolio? You always want to start with the end goal of the client no matter what. Alternatives have proven to provide a number of advantages to portfolios, whether it's longer term horizons in terms of patient capital, less volatility and then, depending on the manager, you can get higher returns than you can in the public market.
There's also an element of illiquidity to alternatives. Alternatives are an important part of the financial-services world. But they really should align with specific needs in a portfolio, with clients' goals and objectives. Private credit, for example, can be heavily taxable, so if you have a client with a lot of income, does that kind of investment make sense, or is it better suited for a foundation type of account?
What types of alternative investment vehicles do you use? In terms of private equity exposure, we have a fund of funds that we use, and it's performed well. We've brought a lot of expertise in house to be able to perform due diligence on alternative investments all the way from real estate to private equity to secondaries and everything in between.
What are your observations about how younger clients' communication preferences compare with older clients? Younger generations approach wealth management with a different set of expectations than their parents or grandparents. Growing up in a world shaped by technology, they're used to immediacy -- take, for example, calling an Uber or getting food delivered. The expectation of speed and transparency naturally carries over into how they interact with their wealth. They tend to be more focused on gaining access to alternative and unique deal flow, while previous generations were more comfortable with traditional asset allocation frameworks.
The real opportunity, I think, lies in identifying and curating bespoke opportunities for these clients, depending on what they're passionate about. Something that is surprising to me is my generation caring more about philanthropy and impact investing. Education on the risk and potential of those opportunities is critical, but then it's about helping determine the right asset allocation based on balancing innovation with longer term wealth preservation. The customization of wealth management is happening quickly through technology. But not only is it happening quickly -- it's being demanded.
What are your clients concerned about these days? For wealth creators, it's complex challenges like deciding when and how to engage the next generation. It's things like, how do I teach my children about investing? When and how should they have access to capital? How do I ensure wealth doesn't diminish motivation or derail personal ambition? These are real questions that families have different opinions on, and we have a next-gen group that, with the advisors, helps families think through various scenarios.
For clients without immediate heirs, the question shifts to, where should my estate ultimately go? Is it a philanthropic organization? Is my estate plan set up to facilitate the transfer of those assets to the right party?
What's one of the business challenges you face today? One is gathering financial data in as real time as possible to enable faster decision-making. Some clients have half their portfolios with us and the rest in other places; that's pretty common across the wealth management industry. The challenge is speeding up the slower processes of getting in the data so you can make better decisions. I think that will continue to evolve over the next 15 years. The challenge brings pressure and excitement -- pressure to stay competitive, but excitement that the firms that execute will set the standard of how clients interact with their wealth going forward.
What values did your family instill that have guided you in your career? I never felt any expectation to be in this industry. But my family has absolutely shaped how I approach it. From an early age I saw the importance they placed on always putting clients' needs first, operating with integrity, and maintaining discipline in how they manage investments. My grandpa always said, if you take care of the client, the stock price will take care of itself.
My mentors -- my grandfather, my aunt, my uncle, and my dad -- gave me a wide range of perspectives. They understood that consistency and rigor in decision-making were just as important as pursuing opportunity. Different personalities have different viewpoints, and they weren't afraid to challenge each other ideologically, whether around platform capabilities or business priorities. That taught me that healthy debate, when guided by the shared values of integrity and discipline, can be a real strategic advantage.
At the end of the day, it reinforced the principle that every decision should ultimately be in service of delivering the best outcome for the client, and that the rest will take care of itself. So I'm most grateful to my family for welcoming healthy debate on various topics, and making sure that the number-one priority is always to take care of the client.
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