Who We Are
FIDUCIARY-BASED WEALTH MANAGEMENT
The Argent Way
As a leading, independent wealth management firm, we deliver in-depth, personalized, unbiased service in a candid and common-sense manner. Our core service offering is Professional Trust Management. Building from that core, Argent provides an array of related financial services including:
• Wealth Management
• Investment Management
• Oil and Gas (Mineral) Management
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans
• Retirement Plan Administration
• Retirement Plan Consulting
• Funeral and Cemetery Trust Services
• Qualified Intermediary Services
• Governmental Services
• Philanthropic Services
Our approach is to understand the source of your wealth and your goals so we can recommend the best strategies to protect and grow your wealth. We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about how Argent can serve you, please call (800) 375-4646 or email ask@ArgentFinancial.com.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Broad Perspective.
Personal Focus.
Southern Roots.
For us, everything starts with you. It always has and always will. We call that the Argent Way. We see it as our responsibility to get to know you and to tailor an approach that is designed to protect, manage and grow your wealth – to provide an unbiased opinion that’s most beneficial to you.
Our focus is always on you. It’s why our services are mostly fee-based. We sell the expert advice of our people and the wealth of resources we put behind them – and why we don’t sell proprietary financial products that may not be in your best interest.
At the end of the day, earning your trust and establishing a long-lasting relationship is the biggest asset we have.
1989 - 1995
OUR HISTORY
Our Early Beginnings
Argent has deep roots throughout the South and a legacy of corporate growth driven by the desire to provide our clients with exceptional service.
In 1930, only months after the market crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression, the trust department of Ruston State Bank (RSB) in Ruston, Louisiana was formed. Decades later, in 1989, a young RSB trust officer with great initiative and passion wrote in a memo to colleagues, “If we elect to provide any service, it must be provided excellently.”
The following year, The Trust Company of Louisiana was formed out of the RSB Trust Department; and in 1991, desiring the flexibility to work independently and offer service with excellence, that same young trust officer—Kyle McDonald—led the purchase of the company, known today as Argent Financial Group. Kyle still serves as our CEO today.
1996 - 2008
OUR HISTORY
Foundational Years
From 1996 to 2004, Argent’s presence expanded throughout Louisiana and into Arkansas, offering trust and investment management services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.
Then, in 2005, we identified a need to assist clients and other property owners with oil and gas leasing and revenue verification services, thereby creating our mineral management group. In 2008, Northwest Louisiana experienced a boom in oil and gas exploration. The earlier decision to form our mineral management group uniquely positioned Argent to help clients capture significant revenue from that boom. That activity, in an otherwise dismal investment market period, marked the beginning of a decade and a half of exceptional growth for Argent.
2009 - 2015
OUR HISTORY
A New Era
In 2009, recognizing the benefit to clients of Tennessee’s progressive and flexible trust laws, Argent purchased an independent trust company in Memphis to allow our clients the benefit of those laws throughout our footprint. That company expanded in 2012 to Nashville and Louisville, and is now our flagship entity, Argent Trust Company, which has a presence in 29 of our 35 markets.
We completed additional mergers and acquisitions in 2013 and 2014 that substantially grew our geographic footprint into South Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi and further expanded our range of services, all to better serve clients. Key among those additions were Highland Capital Management of Memphis and San Antonio-based The Trust Company of Texas. In 2015, we expanded into Alabama, Florida and North Carolina, and in 2016, we acquired Oklahoma City-based Heritage Trust Company, Heritage Institutional Services and Heritage Mineral Management.
2016 - 2022
OUR HISTORY
Strategic Growth
Argent’s growth continued in 2017, with the opening of our in-house operations center in Birmingham, and carried over into 2018, beginning with the acquisition of Independence Trust, a Nashville-based group with expertise in funeral trust services, and then with the opening of new trust offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and New Orleans. In 2018, AmeriTrust Companies of Tulsa, Oklahoma merged with Argent, and in 2019 we opened offices in Wilmington, NC; Ridgeland, MS and Baton Rouge, LA.
Most recently, we acquired funeral trust administrator, Funeral Services Inc, based in Tallahassee, FL; assumed trustee responsibilities from Simmons Bank’s royalty trust division in Dallas; and purchased the trust and wealth management division of Ameris Bank in the Metro Atlanta area.
2023+
2023 and Beyond
Looking Forward
Today, in our 35 markets located across 12 southern states, Argent employs over 350 professionals with responsibility for more than $40 billion in client assets and 3 million mineral acres.
We continue to be a company that is privately owned by our staff, clients and avid supporters, all committed to serving our clients excellently, just as we began.
Our Subsidiaries
Argent Financial Group operates through several wholly-owned subsidiaries. We offer a wide range of wealth management services and solutions to meet the needs of individuals and families, businesses and institutional clients. Our unique blend of professional staff experience and solutions—from trust administration and portfolio management to negotiating and monitoring mineral wealth matters—allow us to help you protect, manage and grow your financial assets. Argent Financial Group has offices in 35 markets located in 12 southern states and we are ready to serve you and your needs.
Select a subsidiary to learn more about our company.
