Fisher Investments opens first east coast office in Tampa

TAMPA — Fisher Investments, a fee-only investment adviser that manages $123 billion in assets, has opened its first office on the east coast of the United States in Tampa, officials said Tuesday.

The office, in the LakePointe One building at the Tampa Bay Park corporate center just northeast of Raymond James Stadium, eventually will have 600 employees, the company said.

“A huge win for our city,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in a statement released through the nonprofit Tampa Bay Economic Development Council.

“Tampa’s momentum for attracting major global operations hasn’t slowed down," she said. "I’m confident they will find the high-quality talent they need to thrive here.”

Fisher did not receive any state or local incentives for the expansion, economic development council spokeswoman Laura Fontanills said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.

Founded in 1979 by Ken Fisher, the company is based in a suburb of Portland, Ore. that’s located just across the state line in the state of Washington. It has other U.S. offices employing about 500 people each in Texas and California and more than 74,000 clients around the world.

"This new office allows us to better retain and attract talent from throughout the eastern seaboard,” Fisher Investments chief executive officer Damian Ornani said in announcing the Tampa operation.

Economic development council president and chief executive officer Craig Richard said Fisher’s arrival is a boost to a growing financial services sector that has attracted USAA, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, MetLife, Citi, and TransferWise. It also has drawn major companies like the Baker McKenzie law firm and pharmaceutical giant Amgen looking to open business services hubs with clusters of employees in areas like finance, information technology, operations, recruiting and career development, marketing and communications.