A $41B investment firm is coming to South Fla.
A prominent New York investment firm that manages approximately $41 billion in assets has plans tomove its headquarters to South Florida.
Elliott Management is relocating from midtown Manhattan to West Palm Beach, according to the Palm Beach County Business Development Board — making it the latest in a growing line of financial firms to move their headquarters from the Northeast or add offices to the South Florida region.
The firm is over seen by billionaire Paul E. Singer, one of the wealthiest people in the United States. According to the New York Times, he recently disclosed the headquarters move to Florida— a decision apparently triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and the volatility of the commercial real estate market in Manhattan.
“They made a commitment to have a corporate headquarters in West Palm Beach,” Kelly Smallridge, the board’s president and CEO, said by telephone Friday.
“They’ve been very tight-lipped on their selection of real estate.”
Smallridge said she has no information on how many jobs the firm might bring to the area. “Whether they go to one building that’s pink or one building’s that white, as long as it’s jobs” the company brings with it, she
added.
Casey Friedman, an Elliott spokeswoman in New York, declined comment by email.
The anticipated move was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Founded in 1977, Elliott Management Corp. manages billion sin assets and employs a staff of 466 people, according to its website. The roster includes 161 investment professionals in itsNewYork headquarters and elsewhere in theU.S., London, HongKongandTokyo.
On behalf of clients, the firm invests in various companies, and buys and sells distressed and real estate-related securities, aswell as commodities and debt.
Singer isn’t expected to move to Florida and will keep some employees and offices in New York, York Times reported.
The migration of some financial firms is largely the byproduct of higher taxes inNortheast states and the federal tax reform lawthat limited residents’ ability to deduct state and local taxes from their federalreturns.
Earlier this year, billionaire investorCarl Icahn moved his firm, Icahn Enterprises, from Mount K is co, N. Y ., to Sunny Isles Beach in Miami-Dade County.
Last spring, the securities arm of Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin’ s hedge fund, Citadel, setup a temporarytrading floor at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach as a safe haven from COVD-19. Griffin is reportedly looking for a more permanent location in the region after buying hundreds of millions in real estate in Palm Beach and Miami’ s Star Island.
Smallridge said that within the last 18months, between 15 and 18 financial firms sought information about locations in the county, and ended up leasing office space from Boca Rat onto Jupiter.
She said the arrival of the C OVID19 pandemic has influenced many upper-income executives to take up second homes in Florida andwork remotely, as Griffin’ s operation did.
“Many of the executives decided not togo back home to the Northeast or they left the Northeast to come to Palm Beach County because they believed itwas a safe place for their families,” shesaid.