August 18, 2025
By David Wignall
Two veteran financial advisors who oversee $1.2 billion in client assets have left UBS to establish an independent practice affiliated with Sanctuary Wealth. Their departure adds to a list of advisor defections this year at Switzerland’s largest bank.
The advisors, Jim Chiate and Tony Guinane, are based in Orange County, Calif., and have founded a practice called Dial Square Private Wealth. Joining them are support staffers Owen Galasso and Nazgol Nekoomaram.
“Going independent was not a quick decision,” Chiate said in a statement. “While we could have easily moved to another traditional wirehouse or private bank, once we understood the evolution of the independent space over the last decade, we couldn’t ignore the value independence would provide to our clients.”
Chiate and Guinane are among the advisors who have sought greater independence via partnerships with Sanctuary, which operates as an independent broker-dealer and registered investment advisor. Sanctuary specializes in helping seasoned advisors exit the large national brokerage firms—colloquially known as wirehouses—and open their own practices.
