Rigby Watts & Company is a financial advisory and investment firm based in Holladay, Utah. The company helps clients grow and diversify their wealth through personalized investment and retirement asset management, with a strong focus on healthcare-related real estate, venture capital, and private equity.

Over eight years ago, Adam Watts and Andrew (Drew) Rigby first met while each was out establishing their own careers. It wasn’t until six years later that the stars aligned and the two friends launched Rigby Watts & Company. We had the opportunity to interview co-founder Adam Watts.

Building a Healthcare Investment Firm

“We’re a healthcare-focused firm that starts with our real estate development, acquisition, and investment platform,” explains Adam. “That foundation then extends into our early-stage healthcare venture tech platform, which Drew leads.”

Adam describes Drew as a “serial entrepreneur” with visionary drive and extensive experience in venture capital and investment management. He adds, “Drew also manages our third vertical, a registered investment advisory business focused on high-net-worth individuals, particularly dentists and doctors, helping them manage their money in the public markets. We don’t invest in companies that aren’t healthcare related, and we don’t acquire or develop real estate assets that aren’t tied to healthcare, dental, or medical uses.”

With a background in real estate law and healthcare development, Adam wears many hats at work. He says, “My day-to-day includes weekly calls with contractors and answering questions from our provider partners. I’m also following up with banks on outstanding financing, looking at potential new deals, and staying in touch with brokers. It’s super varied. Development is part psychology, part banking, part political, and part social. Every day, you’re dealing with something different.”

Industry Focus and Strategy

When asked why healthcare was the specific niche Rigby Watts chose to focus on, Adam draws on past experiences and observations that inspired the decision. He shares, “I grew up in a real estate family, and after seeing my father struggle with residential development through the dot-com bust, I wanted to target a somewhat more recession proof vertical. Healthcare, with its sticky medical and dental tenants, made perfect sense. No matter the economy, people still need care, and that helps hedge against risk.”

For Rigby Watts, a successful project means setting clients up for success. Adam explains, “We co-own these facilities with some of our medical tenants, so having well heeled, deeply rooted, long-standing medical and dental clients as partners is a big factor in our success.” He also emphasizes the importance of executing projects with meticulous detail, saying, “We’re very involved in all aspects of the development, from site acquisition and sourcing, due diligence, underwriting, entitlement, bank financing, and joint venture structuring. We implement a very high touch, highly detailed approach.”

Expanding Into Idaho

FOCUS had the opportunity to collaborate with Rigby Watts on several medical buildings, providing site civil design, survey, and land planning services to bring each project to life. Adam shared the greatest advantage of working with FOCUS, particularly the Boise office, stating, “What’s been great is having boots on the ground up there in Meridian.”

“Boise is a new area of expansion for us,” says Adam. “All of our past projects have been in Utah. We’ve done some investing outside of Utah, but from a development standpoint, this is our first development in Idaho. We want to keep expanding and deploying our model throughout the region.” Recently, FOCUS worked alongside Rigby Watts in building a Dental Institute in Meridian. Adam spoke on the experience, “We’re based in Salt Lake, and going through that entitlement process, it was great to have a team willing to take documents to the city and meet with someone there to help us get over the next hurdle. I think once we reached a certain point, the communication has been really solid, clearly laying out where things stand.”

As Rigby Watts & Company continues to expand and pursue new opportunities, we are proud partners eager to support their growth and success.