A Merrill Lynch team that oversaw $600 million in client assets left the wirehouse to join an RIA affiliated with Dynasty Financial Partners, the firm said.
The four-member group combined forces with Syntal Capital Partners, expanding the Midland, Texas-based firm's total staff to 12. The new hires, led by advisor Ben Gordon, are based in Dallas.
Gordon was part of Merrill Lynch's elite Private Banking & Investment Group, which serves ultrawealthy clients. He had been with the
Syntal co-founders Chad Clary and Dane Crunk are also
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It seems that a long bull market in transition deals may be coming to an end.
May 23 -
"It's always nice when one poker player folds and it's down to two or three players," one recruiter says.
May 12 -
The wirehouse's executives think they've struck on the right formula to boost growth through a simplified comp plan, greater autonomy and an attractive retirement package.
April 17
"Chad and I have had a long relationship with Ben and his team over the last decade and are delighted to welcome them to Syntal Capital Partners," Crunk said in a statement.
The
"Energy will remain a critical part of our business," he said. "However, with Ben and his team joining Syntal, we have broadened our business and will now serve clients in numerous sectors beyond energy including real estate, consumer goods, technology and finance sectors."
EXPANDING HORIZONS
As a channel, RIAs have been experiencing faster growth than their larger Wall Street competitors. Shirl Penney, CEO of
RIA owners "have evolved from being world-class advisors to being world-class CEOs," says Penney.
Summit Trail Advisors, an RIA formed by former Barclays advisors in 2015, recently
Dynasty and other companies that serve breakaways have been helping a growing number of large wirehouse teams form and expand RIAs.
This year has seen more moves, bigger moves and more expensive moves.
Independent firms can offer new recruits equity as a hiring enticement, which may appear particularly attractive given recruiting cutbacks at three of the four wirehouses.
"If you go back 10 years ago, there were a lot of rollups forming and they were funded by private equity. Ultimately, there was less equity to go around to the advisor teams. Now there are well-run, well-funded RIAs run by advisors and there is more room on the table to discuss giving more equity to the advisors," he says.
Plus, former wirehouse advisors can enjoy the benefits of being independent without the work.
"Advisors want to be independent, but not alone. They like to be in a community like Dynasty's, which has regional events, and helps advisors collaborate and learn from one another," Penney says.
Also moving with Gordon to Syntal are Laura Blair, senior vice president of client operations, Collin Hart, vice president of investment strategy and research, and Risa Kiser, chief of staff.
A spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch was unavailable for immediate comment.
