By Mason Braswell, AdvisorHub – A three-broker Merrill Lynch team that had generated around $3.1 million in trailing-12 month revenue in Wisconsin left the wirehouse on Tuesday to join Steward Partners, an independent firm that clears through Raymond James Financial Services.
Wirehouse veteran Bob Mulholland shares his experience at Merrill and UBS, plus perspective on changes at the wirehouses, the drivers towards independence, stemming advisor attrition at big brokerages, changing advisor sentiment and much more.
A special all-in-one-place, “best of the breakaways” show featuring curated conversations about the motivations behind the choice to leave the wirehouse world, the risks these breakaways took and the rewards they found waiting on the other side.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Lisa Shidler, RIABiz – When Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC, raised $50 million from private equity earlier this year, it immediately used half the money to cash out early internal shareholders — but not because the company isn’t growing and morphing like crazy. Steward has grown from 60 to 115 advisors, with 19 advisors, six new offices and $13 billion in assets added this year, according to CEO Jim Gold. The new 1099 model competes even more directly with Raymond James, says Louis Diamond, principal of Diamond Consulting.
By Andrew Welsch, OnWallStreet – Steward Partners hired a former Merrill Lynch team managing $160 million in client assets, the firm said. It’s the latest in a string of hires for the independent firm, which was founded by former wirehouse managers in 2013 and is affiliated with Raymond James. So far this year, Steward Partners has recruited 19 advisors and opened six offices. The Washington, D.C.-based firm now has more than 100 advisors operating from 21 locations.
By Ian Wenik, Citywire – The $13 billion hybrid RIA has hired Kevin Taube away from the wirehouse to work in its Manchester, N.H. office. Taube had worked for Merrill Lynch since 2006, running a practice that he estimated to be 99% fee-based.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Jason Bisnoff, Fund Intelligence – Steward Partners has announced a new line of business, launching a self-employed affiliate model that offers advisers the ability to start or maintain their own business with access to Steward’s infrastructure. The service expansion is a positive development in the independent adviser ecosystem, according to Diamond Consultants executive vice president Louis Diamond.
In a greatly expanded landscape, many independent models exist that provide varying levels of freedom and flexibility. Louis Diamond joins the episode to help identify, compare and contrast the 7 most popular options available to breakaway advisors.
Guest Jim Gold discusses breaking away from the senior leadership ranks at Morgan Stanley to build Steward Partners, a full-service employee-owned quasi-independent model, for advisors who are not interested in building something from scratch. He also shares some exciting news about the growth of the firm.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Jason Bisnoff, Fund Intelligence – Exits this week from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley continue to show the move of advisers from major names to more independent avenues .Andrew Graham, a former JPMorgan global multi-cap growth strategy manager, has left to launch his own registered investment advisory business under the moniker Jackson Square Capital, backed by Portland, Oregon-based back end platform and consultancy tru Independence.
