Team Name: C2 Advisors
Firm: UBS Private Wealth Management
Senior Members: Cindy Brown, Daffan Nettle, Leslie Gunawan, Jay Boynton
Location: Dallas, TX
Team Custodied Assets: $1.5 billion
Background: A team of majority women, C2 Advisors moved from JPMorgan to UBS in 2021. With 9 people in total, there are four senior partners, each with their own expertise. Daffan Nettle has an M&A background, Leslie Gunawan in fixed income trading and institutional consulting, Cindy Brown in institutional capital markets and Jay Boynton in portfolio management. They work with 100 clients today, from family offices and business owners to private equity firms and their partners. The team also specializes in covering clients going through “transformational life events” such as the sale of a business, a divorce or a death in the family. “Being a women-led team we do some women-focused events as well,” says Brown. “We believe empowering women to take control of their finances is very important.”
Competitive Edge: “Every client gets [direct] access to our entire team,” says Brown. “You can always have more of a positive influence working collaboratively rather than independently.”
Investment Philosophy/Strategy: C2 uses a framework that includes a bucket for liquidity to meet day-to-day needs, a core portfolio designed to outpace inflation along with a legacy portfolio focused on more opportunistic investments or designed for future generations or philanthropy. “The common themes are cost and tax efficiency, with big fee transparency,” says Gunawan. On the equity side, that means using active managers who invest in individual stocks or passive exposure through ETFs that are tax optimized. “In fixed income we prefer high quality and are locking in yields as we prepare clients for what could be diminished cash returns going forward,” she adds. The team is also a big believer in diversifying returns, mainly through significant allocations to alternative investments like private equity, private credit and infrastructure.
Investment Outlook: “Coming off two very strong years in equity markets, we are certainly up against some high expectations,” says Gunawan. “We’ve tried to prepare clients for potentially lower public equity returns going forward and have built that into our plans.” Still, they remain constructive on U.S. equities—particularly in the tech sector, where trends like AI could drive innovation. “We always talk about the bear case scenario with clients and are wary of managers who are overconfident,” adds Gunawan.
Best Advice: “We tell clients: Keep it simple,” says Brown. “A lot of times they overcomplicate their portfolios or financial lives but it’s unnecessary to do that.”