A tale of one market and two diverse cities
Technically, Dallas and Fort Worth make up the same market.
Technically, Dallas and Fort Worth make up the same market.
Culturally, however, the two Texas cities, so close together geographically, appear to be far apart.
Fort Worth residents, for example, proudly refer to their city as “Cowtown.”
Dallas denizens, by contrast, pride themselves on the cosmopolitan virtues of their gleaming and fast-growing city.
“There’s plenty of boots in Dallas, but there’s more in Fort Worth. There are cowboy hats in Dallas, but they’re taller in Fort Worth,” said Chuck Thoele, managing director at Robertson Griege & Thoele in Dallas.
“There’s some mingling, but they’re very different cultures,” said Jeffrey Rupp, managing director of Bluffview Wealth Management LP in Dallas.
Dallas wealth managers say that for the most part, the differences extend to business as well.
“To be successful in Fort Worth, you have to be in Fort Worth, and Dallas doesn’t count as Fort Worth,” said Colin Carter, Dallas-based managing partner of Presidio Financial Partners LLC of San Francisco.
To be sure, there is plenty of wealth in Fort Worth. Much of it, local executives said, comes from oil and gas fortunes and families who are well-established in the city.
“It’s a very unpenetrated market,” said Eric Bennett, chairman and chief executive of the private wealth management division of Tolleson Wealth Management in Dallas. “I know we would like to increase our presence [in Fort Worth].”
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