By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

It only took them 112 years, but some of the largest financial institutions in the nation are targeting gay and lesbians with marketing geared toward investments and returns for families, both in the long and short term.

Recently, Northern Trust, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have all put out directives from the top of management to court the non-traditional families’ money.

“There is a large LGBT marketplace there,” said John McGowan, a longtime Northern Trust banker, to the Miami Herald’s Steve Rothaus. “Florida has very few laws that protect same-sex couples. It’s a matter of making clients aware of estate and legal documents that need to be in place to protect the relationship, the family.”

Northern Trust launched a website dedicated to ‘Custom Solutions for LGBT and Non-Traditional Families.’

“We understand the financial and estate planning challenges you face as an LGBT individual or same-sex couple, and we have the expertise to help you and your loved ones navigate them,” boasts Northern Trusts website.

Since Federal Law does not recognize same-sex marriages, unions or anything similar, it’s important for gay and lesbian couples to create proper paperwork naming each other as power of attorneys and leaving wills so that the government can’t swoop in and decide the fate of mutual property or holdings.

“Northern Trust recognizes the definition of family has evolved,” McGowan said. “We have been helping LGBT clients develop wealth management strategies for decades and have the experience to deal with unique legal, tax and wealth transfer challenges. The creation of this group will help ensure our strategic focus will be executed more broadly across our network.”

As recently as last year, Galileo Capital Management launched an investment vehicle focused on the LGBT community. Galileo was raising capital to investment in LGBT owned and operated businesses that needed help getting off the ground and expanding.