Our History

 

After graduating from the University of Virginia, Tom Meade started his career as a system analyst at UNIVAC.  In 1968-69 his National Guard unit was activated and Tom served his country in Vietnam.  Upon returning from Vietnam, he decided to change careers and pursue his passion for investing. 

Tom started his investment career as a broker with Dean Witter & Co. and left three years later to join AG Edwards & Sons.  Through years of hard work and dedication, he was promoted to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the firm.  Tom left AG Edwards in 1988 and assumed the position of President, Chairman and CEO of Denver based investment bank, Boettcher & Co.  After guiding Boettcher & Co. to become one of the top performing firms under Kemper Financial Companies, he was promoted to President and COO of Kemper Securities Group Holdings.  In 1992, Tom accepted the position as President of Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc. which, at the time, was the second largest discount brokerage firm in the United States.

As Tom’s achievements advanced his career deeper into management, he was pulled further away from his passion.  His career became focused more on managing large companies than on investing.  In 1994, he started Private Capital Management, Inc. (PCM) as a way to return to investing by managing his own investments and those of a few close relationships.  Today we manage over $140 million dollars, most of which has come from client referrals.

In building PCM, Tom took the perspective of a client and arranged our services in the way he would want his own money managed.  Consequently, PCM is different from other firms in several ways:

  • We are an independent and employee owned firm.
  • PCM is a fee-only and fully discretionary investment advisor.
  • We do not sell insurance or investment products, nor do we receive any commissions from or have any sales agreements with the investments we use.
  • We remain objective, independent and conflict free.
  • We are solution oriented, not product driven.  
  • All client assets are held in their own name at either Charles Schwab & Co. or Fidelity Investments.
  • We leverage the scale and resources of third party custodians while maintaining a close personal connection with each client.

Now, over 15 years later, PCM remains an employee owned firm still helping clients with Financial Planning and Investment Management.  We stay focused on developing a strong relationship with each client rather than growing into a large financial institution.  For this reason, PCM will likely always remain a small independent firm dedicated to meeting the needs of our clients.  As a vote of confidence in our ability, every senior PCM employee has their own money invested with the firm.