Columbus CEO’s Top Workplaces 2023: Small Organizations Category Winner Hamilton Capital

Hamilton Capital has helped clients build their portfolios for 25 years.

In 1997, Central Ohio native Matt Hamilton founded Hamilton Capital, a full-service wealth management firm, with a singular vision: helping people fulfill their purpose.

Largely inspired by his father, who rose to become president of a publicly traded company, Hamilton gleaned much of his business acumen through dinner-table discussions with his dad. “He drilled in me what it takes to grow a business and how hard that is, and also, what one might pay to own that business,” Hamilton says. “That stuck with me forever, and it’s really influenced how we manage money to this day.”

More than 25 years later, he continues to put those lessons, and others he’s learned along the way, into practice. In 2023, Hamilton Capital makes its Top Workplaces debut, ranked No. 1 in the small organization category.

Originally a small staff of three, the firm now employs 82 and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets from two locations, in Columbus and Palm Beach, Florida. “Our assets under management have grown at a compounded annual growth rate for 25 years at nearly 18 percent,” Hamilton says. “We serve as our clients’ chief investment officer.”

But for Hamilton, building wealth is about more than money. “People were built for relationships and impact, and we all have a deep desire to have influence and significance,” he says. “What money does is give you another avenue to have significance and impact things—the people and causes you have a passion or a calling for.”

Hamilton Capital uses tests and professional development to help employees identify their natural talents and abilities. “We are hyper-focused on … helping understand what their strengths are, how they operate, how they process information, how they receive information, and how they give information,” Hamilton says. “And it helps us to work as a cohesive team.”

“It’s a passion I’ve had all my life; it’s a passion for people,” he says. “It’s really about individuals living the very best life that they can have.”

What he jokingly refers to as “the curse of the Hamilton family work ethic” also rubs off on his team. “We are driven to always do our best, and in that is a spirit of continuous innovation: How can we do it better tomorrow than we did it today?” Hamilton says.

The firm works to create growth so employees can tap into immediate opportunities, according to Hamilton. “We have a team that is highly talented both on the wealth management and investment management side, which is very unusual.”

The culture is one not of cutthroat competition, but of hard work. “I don’t try to set up a lot of competition between individuals,” Hamilton says. “I say, “Go be the very best version of you that you possibly can be, and it’ll all take care of itself.”

Managing director Mike Faieta, who’s been with the company for 23 years, remembers sitting in the office late one night when he was just a few years into the job, frustrated by his work performance compared with another associate. “Matt said, ‘You are your own competition,’ and it just hit me right between the eyeballs,” Faieta says. “Most of us hold ourselves back more than anyone else.”

Faieta cites the company’s vision and the focus on purpose for his lengthy tenure. “Matt had a vision of providing a career for people that was worthy of their lives and purpose,” Faieta says. “I remember it vividly, and nothing’s really changed.” These days, Faieta, who also serves on the company’s strategic leadership team, is the one mentoring others with that same message.

Last year marked Hamilton Capital’s 25th anniversary, and, despite the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and international conflicts that all added to a volatile market, the firm launched a new fund and ended the year on a good note. “It was a year where we just continued to build on our strengths, and we did it in a very challenging financial environment,” Hamilton says. “There was no place to hide, but we came through that with flying colors … heads and shoulders about what others did, in my view.”

Hamilton doesn’t expect that to change any time soon. “It’s going to be a very challenging next 10 years in the investment environment,” Hamilton says. To weather that storm, he adds, it’s going to take continued top-down teamwork.

“It’s not just about what our organizational leaders are—people at every level are leaders,” Hamilton says. “When we unleash their full potential, it’s going to be hard to stop.”

The culture is one not of cutthroat competition, but of hard work. “I don’t try to set up a lot of competition between individuals,” Hamilton says. “I say, ‘Go be the very best version of you that you possibly can be, and it’ll all take care of itself.’ ”

Managing director Mike Faieta, who’s been with the company for 23 years, remembers sitting in the office late one night when he was just a few years into the job, frustrated by his work performance compared with another associate. “Matt said, ‘You are your own competition,’ and it just hit me right between the eyeballs,” Faieta says. “Most of us hold ourselves back more than anyone else.”

Faieta cites the company’s vision and the focus on purpose for his lengthy tenure. “Matt had a vision of providing a career for people that was worthy of their lives and purpose,” Faieta says. “I remember it vividly, and nothing’s really changed.”

These days, Faieta, who also serves on the company’s strategic leadership team,is the one mentoring others with that same message.

Last year marked Hamilton Capital’s 25th anniversary, and, despite the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and international conflicts that all added to a volatile market, the firm launched a new fund and ended the year on a good note. “It was a year where we just continued to build on our strengths, and we did it in a very challenging financial environment,” Hamilton says. “There was no place to hide, but we came through that with flying colors … heads and shoulders above what others did, in my view.”

Hamilton doesn’t expect that to change any time soon. “It’s going to be a very challenging next 10 years in the investment environment,” he says. To weather that storm, he adds, it’s going to take continued top-down teamwork.

“It’s not just about what our organizational leaders are—people at every level are leaders,” Hamilton says. “When we unleash their full potential, it’s going to be hard to stop.”

About Hamilton Capital

5025 Arlington Centre Blvd., Columbus; hamiltoncapital.com

Business: Full-service wealth management firm

Chairman and CEO: R. Matthew Hamilton

Number of employees: 82

2022 annual revenue: $25.4 million

This story is from the Top Workplaces 2023 supplement in the Spring 2023 issue of Columbus CEO.