We’re proud to share that a nationally recognized team from UBS, led by Benjamin (Ben) Domingue, Travis Frayard, and Shawna Prejean, has launched Family Office Partners, a new independent firm based in Lafayette, LA. The 12-person team manages approximately $2.5 billion in client assets and will operate with the support of Elevation Point, the investor and support platform founded by Jim Dickson and backed by Emigrant Partners.
A Career Built at UBS—And a Vision That Outgrew It
Ben Domingue was a 20+ year veteran of UBS who built a career on advising ultra-high net worth families, particularly those with significant private business interests.
He and his partners, Travis Frayard and Shawna Prejean, built an extraordinary business managing $2.5B in client assets. Ben shared that they felt well served at UBS—but over time, that changed.
They began to feel that ongoing cost-cutting, growing technology inefficiencies, and compliance-related friction were slowing the team down—limiting both their ability to grow and to serve clients at the highest level. As Ben shared:
We regularly get clients coming to us asking to help with managing a transaction, finding an institutional debt source… The reality is, no one institution is the right solution for every entrepreneur. For us, we only had one option.
Initially, the team believed they needed the power of a big brand and an integrated platform to support their clients. But through extensive exploration, they came to see that no single firm holds a monopoly on the tools clients need.
And that clarity unlocked something bigger: Ben realized he had always been an entrepreneur operating in a captive environment.
Then, Elevation Point, the investment and support platform firm launched by Jim Dickson (an ex-wirehouse executive), caught their eye. They realized that if they wanted to own their business, their time and energy were best spent on clients and growth – not middle- and back-office tasks – and that building an RIA firm with support was the ideal path.
Based on longstanding relationships with Jim and the leadership team, trust came naturally. And while they were hesitant to sell equity, they viewed Elevation Point as a partner that was truly invested in them. The opportunity to focus on growth and taking their business to the next level made 80% of a much larger pie more appealing than 100% of a smaller and less valuable one.
What ultimately gave them confidence to build their independent business with Elevation Point was the ability to combine the brand they had built, the institutional credibility of Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions and BNY Mellon | Pershing, and access to a far broader set of third-party services and capital providers.
Family Office Partners is now executing a bold vision to expand their service set and recruit like-minded advisors across the country to join their platform.
Diamond Consultants’ Role
Diamond Consultants had the privilege of advising the Family Office Partners team through this career-defining transition. Our work included:
- Educating them on the full spectrum of affiliation models, from wirehouses to selling their practice to an RIA to supportive versions of independence.
- Helping them get comfortable with the operational realities of launching their own firm.
- Serving as a thought partner to assist in defining the vision and what was possible.
- Identifying and aligning them with Elevation Point as a strategic capital partner.
- And ultimately, partnering to bring the transaction to a successful close.
We’re proud to have helped a world-class team realize they could build a better platform – and a better future – for their clients and their business.
Diamond Consultants congratulates Ben, Travis, Shawna, and the entire Family Office Partners team on their extraordinary leap to independence—and looks forward to their continued success building a national platform for UHNW families and entrepreneurial advisors.