If the national workforce performed like IronGate Partners, there would be no unemployment crisis. IronGate, a private investment management firm based in Wilmington, has doubled in staff size in the last 12 months.

After rapid growth since the company formed under its current structure in 2004, 2010 was a year to reinvest in company infrastructure to set higher sights moving forward. From 2004 to 2009, the company averaged 14 percent growth, experiencing record revenues in 2008 and 2009 as the global economic world imploded.

“This signals what we do for our clients and the outcomes we show for our clients,” said Chris Jones, partner and co-founder at IronGate. “We have a different business model.”

The partners at IronGate, Jones, David Hartness and co-founder Steve Coggins, pride themselves on their business model. At IronGate, clients are not bound to a specific financial advisor.

“When someone becomes a client, they become a client of the team. We all have different specialties. We can add the most value to our clients doing it this way,” Jones said.

IronGate focuses on high net worth individuals and sets high minimum investment levels. In turn, they deliver a customized financial framework for each client where every portfolio they manage in the office is reviewed weekly.

“As clients grow and become more discerning, they want a team to decipher the challenges ahead,” Jones said.

“We enjoy the complex needs high net worth people have,” Coggins said.

To help navigate the challenges, the founders hold weekly investment meetings with in-house economic expert Mead Briggs. Briggs has a long history working on Wall Street and provides a macro-economic outlook with a global focus. Other staff join the investment committee meetings on a rotating basis.

“We want to do the best for our clients, and we’ll use a variety of vehicles,” Coggins said. “We’re product neutral. We have no in-house funds that require investment. We’re beholden to no one.”

That IronGate does not have internal funds to direct client money to is another differentiator in the financial market. Many investment advisors who work for a large firm encourage clients to invest in that firm’s funds.

“We have a client-centered approach opposed to a product-centered approach,” Coggins said.

More than 70 percent of the IronGate clientele is retired or semi-retired. Due to this, the firm looks at protection of assets and long-term values as high priorities.

“Most of this business is focused on short-term gains. It is almost a waste of time to try and predict short-term market movements. We focus on longer-term term trends. We try to protect from the downside,” Coggins said.

Despite a majority of clients nearing the end of their careers, the firm has seen significant growth in an unexpected area; managing group retirement plans. Hartness explained that as the group began to expand offerings to younger clients, those clients tended to own companies and needed to offer retirement plans to their employees. IronGate filled that need.

“Commercial 401(k)s became a significant source of growth for our firm. We serve as fiduciary along side the plan sponsor,” Hartness said.

With an eight-figure portfolio of retirement assets already in place, IronGate has established a significant presence in the retirement market. The growth has been rapid; the firm amassed the assets in slightly more than 18 months. In 2011, the firm forecasts to double that figure.

“Up until recently we had grown, by design, purely on a referral basis. We were the best kept secret in Wilmington,” Jones said.

With the 2010 hires of former congressional candidate Ilario Pantano and local executive Randy Swartz among others, IronGate intends to increase visibility and bring in new clients.  Though the bulk of the company’s client base is still local, IronGate has taken on more clients nationally.

“2008 was our best year on record, and then 2009 bested 2008. We are always looking to make things better,” Coggins said.