I
Business 8( Professional
PROFILE
A Real Asset
Private eye scours globe to give cash
to missing heirs and beneficiaries.
Glenn Oswald
Admitting he does not drive a Ferrari
and wear Hawaiian shirts (ala Tom
Selleck, circa the 1980s), what he does
is find missing heirs or unknown heirs
and provide them with an inheritance.
Zwick is president of Assets
Special to the Jewish News
M
ichael Zwick does not con-
sider himself the stereo-
typical private investigator.
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36
December 17 • 2009
Michael Zwick searches for valuable "needles in the haystack."
International, a Southfield-based assets
location company and licensed private
investigation agency. Founded in 2001,
the company reunites individuals and
companies with non-real estate cash
assets.
Assets International's focus is to
assist probate attorneys or legal repre-
sentatives of estates or trusts in finding
missing or unknown heirs, devisees
and other beneficiaries. They find the
needles in the haystack."
The company is a team of multi-
lingual researchers who have years of
genealogical investigative experience,
allowing them to build family trees from
documents written in many languages.
It is not unusual for staff members
to routinely travel worldwide to meet
with heirs or conduct research. Assets
International has developed a global
network of colleagues to assist in their
investigations.
Each missing heirs case is unique and
brings about its own set of challenges.
Recently, Zwick's company located two
homeless individuals, both due a sub-
stantial amount of money. In both cases,
Assets International found these people
after numerous failed attempts by the
legal system.
"These were difficult assignments:'
admitted Zwick. "But, this is the prem-
ise of what we do and this is our focus
— finding missing heirs!'
Zwick did not set out to be a private
investigator. Earning his bachelor's
degree in economics from Yeshiva
University in New York City and his law
degree from Y.U.'s Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law, Zwick eventually started
his own law practice in Southfield.
However, it was through an acquain-
tance, Neal Duchin, that his professional
life would change forever.
Initially, Duchin founded Assets
International with the intention of
assisting individuals and businesses to
use the legal system to recover assets.
As the company grew, Zwick worked as
a freelancer, helping Duchin with the
legal aspects. It soon became apparent
CC
to them, through their due diligence on
various investigations, that a market
was underserved and a niche was avail-
able.
As the workload increased and the
company's focus shifted, Zwick put his
law practice on the back burner and
joined Assets International full time in
2004.
Today, Zwick oversees 17 employees,
divided between Southfield and Beit
Shemesh, Israel, with other U.S. loca-
tions planned for the future. This year,
Assets International projects to recover
more than $4.5 million on behalf of
their clients, up approximately 20 per-
cent from 2008. Despite the recession
and being headquartered in southeast
Michigan, Assets International is thriv-
ing.
"To be able to tell someone, `You have
$40,000 coming to you, especially in
this economy, is very gratifying. We've
found money for homeless people who
were then able to move out of shelters,
get a place of their own and turn their
lives around. Indirectly, we've also
reunited family members that haven't
seen each other in decades."
Zwick, 39, grew up in Southfield, a
"Sinai baby," and attended Yeshivat
Akiva and Young Israel of Southfield.
He was active in many organizations,
including serving on the boards of
Akiva, the Young Adult Division of the
Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit and
Young Israel of Oak Park.
However, it was through Hillel of
Metro Detroit that he would meet his
future wife, Lesley, herself a successful
entrepreneur at Chocolate Impressions,
also in Southfield. Married for six years,
they have two daughters.
Zwick attends daily prayer services at
6:15 a.m. and admits Jewish rituals can
be a struggle in today's electronic, fast-
paced world.
"It can sometimes be a challenge
when you know business things need
your attention. But that is where care-
ful planning and setting priorities are
essential. You can run a successful busi-