Curt Edwards, Managing Director of Wealth Management – Southeast Region, Wilmington Trust

Invest: spoke with Curt Edwards, managing director of wealth management for Wilmington Trust’s Southeast Region, about how the firm serves ultra-high-net-worth families relocating to South Florida and planning across generations. “Wall Street can be doing great, and Main Street can be in a mess,” Edwards said, underscoring how client decisions often hinge on more than headline market performance. He also described Wilmington Trust as a planning-led, boutique wealth manager focused on helping families navigate domicile complexity, multigenerational alignment, and disciplined portfolio strategy.

What sets Wilmington Trust apart in the competitive South Florida wealth management market?

We lead with planning and advice, and we’re clear about where we fit. We’ve been around for more than 100 years, and we focus on high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families, especially those with taxable estates and more complex needs. We’re not everything for everyone, but in the family office space, we can be a strong partner.

The way we differentiate is the experience and clarity we provide. We operate as a boutique wealth manager that brings long-standing capabilities to families who need coordinated advice. 

How does Wilmington Trust meet the evolving needs of affluent individuals and families moving into the Southeast?

We have teams that stay focused on what’s changing in planning and wealth strategy. Internally, we have a dedicated group that tracks developments in the estate planning world and translates them into practical guidance for clients and their advisory teams.

In South Florida, we’re seeing a sustained migration from New England, the Midwest, and other northern states. That trend hasn’t been limited to individuals. Increasingly, business owners are asking how to move companies, not just households.

That shift changes the work. Relocating or selling a business pulls in M&A attorneys, tax counsel, and trust and estate attorneys. Our role is to keep the planning process organized, help clients understand tradeoffs, and make sure the strategy fits their broader balance sheet and long-term goals. We’re often coordinating the flow of information so the client’s decisions match what the legal and tax realities will allow.

What are the top planning priorities for high-net-worth clients relocating to Florida?

Avoiding domicile disputes is a major priority. If you’re leaving a state like Illinois or New York, those states have an incentive to challenge whether you truly changed residency, especially around a liquidity event. You have to be strategic and consistent. It takes time, planning, and documentation, and you need patterns and behaviors that support the move in a defensible way.

We see this in real time. We worked with an owner who sold a company for about $400 million and ultimately wrote a $5 million check to settle with a northern state to move forward. Northern states are hungry for revenue, and if you don’t do the planning early, they can attach themselves to a transaction and pursue a meaningful share of the proceeds. For many families, the goal is to plan before the deal, coordinate the right advisors, and reduce avoidable friction.

How do you support multigenerational wealth transfer and legacy planning?

Education is the foundation. We bring second, third, and fourth generations together, and we create space for families to talk about responsibilities, expectations, and how decisions get made. Family dynamics matter. Sometimes siblings don’t align, and if you don’t address that, the cousins can inherit the same tensions. Family meetings, and sometimes off-sites, can help create shared understanding and a healthier decision-making rhythm.

We also encourage families to define the purpose behind the money. There’s usually a story about how wealth was created, and future generations benefit from understanding it. We sometimes help families capture that story, even on video, so people in the future can learn directly from a matriarch or patriarch they may never meet. That context can be the difference between entitlement and stewardship.

At a certain level, the conversation is beyond buying stocks and bonds. It becomes about purpose and shared mission across generations.

How do lending and private banking solutions fit into the overall wealth strategy for affluent clients?

Leverage can be a practical tool when it’s used intentionally. For purchases like real estate, boats, or aircraft, families may prefer to borrow against assets rather than liquidate investments. For some, credit is also a way to manage timing, including tax bills and other large obligations.

We look at multiple options and focus on the most cost-effective and tax-efficient structure. Many wealthy clients have large portfolios and can borrow against their own assets, essentially acting as their own bank. Our job is to help clients compare approaches, understand risks, and make sure the financing fits the broader plan.

How do trusts, estate planning, and philanthropy come together in a holistic plan?

The core is integrated: advising, investing, lending, and banking. Planning ties it together, and philanthropy is becoming a bigger part of that planning conversation. Families want guardrails because once you have wealth, everyone wants access to it. Defining what matters most, and writing that into a mission, helps families give intentionally rather than reactively.

Philanthropy can also be a structure for staying connected across generations, even as people build independent lives and careers. The money is a means to an end. The mission is what you’re trying to accomplish.

How does your relationship-led model support collaboration with other advisors?

Complex families need a full team: CPAs, the CFO of a family office, trust and estate attorneys, tax counsel, and transaction advisors when needed. We work best when we’re coordinating that table, not competing with it. We facilitate focused meetings, keep people aligned, and help the family move from discussion to execution.

We also help families evaluate opportunities beyond traditional portfolios. If a family is looking at private credit, private equity, or real estate deals, we can underwrite those opportunities and outline the pros and cons.

Wilmington Trust has a deep network across the country, particularly in New England and the Southeast, and that helps us assemble the right expertise quickly when a family’s needs span multiple states. The objective is continuity, coordination, and clarity, so decisions don’t get fragmented across silos.

What is your outlook on market trends, risk management, and portfolio strategy as interest rates and economic conditions shift?

There’s always a temptation to connect market headlines directly to lived experience, but they don’t always move together. Wall Street can be doing great, and Main Street can be in a mess. Affordability pressures are real, and consumers feel it, even when earnings and markets are strong.

At the same time, we’re watching the tradeoff between growth and inflation. Rates may not come down as quickly as many expect, and policy decisions can add uncertainty. The Federal Reserve has limited room to maneuver if inflation stays sticky while the economy continues to grow, and that’s a backdrop investors need to respect.

From an investment perspective, we’re focused on balance and quality. We’re comfortable owning strong companies, but we’re not chasing returns blindly. In fixed income and credit, quality matters. In equities, discipline matters. We emphasize diversification, prudent trimming where appropriate, and staying aligned with long-term goals rather than reacting to short-term noise.