Sanctuary wealth signed a four-person ex-Merrill Lynch Wealth Management team that managed $1.22 billion in assets, according to the firm.
Advisor Bradley Bruce, of the former Bruce Wealth Management Group at Merrill, founded mFORCE Capital in Fort Worth, Texas.
In an email to Financial Planning, Bruce says he joined Sanctuary because it offers mFORCE Capital the benefits of partnered independence, which supports his business from a compliance perspective, and its custody offering of BNY Mellon’s Pershing.
“I explored other firms’ offerings for years, including wirehouses, broker dealers and every option out there — but Sanctuary’s platform stood out to us the most,” he says.
Mark Elzweig, president of Mark Elzweig Company, a recruiting firm, says partnered independence is an appealing business model for many breakaway advisors.
“The advisor retains full ownership of his practice but is able to leverage a broad based support infrastructure,” he says, “Help in setting up an office, choosing the right technology stack, marketing the business and choosing an optimal employee benefit package, for example, ensure that the transition will go smoothly and that advisors can continue to focus on their clients.”
“Otherwise an advisor team would have to have an employee on staff to work with the custodian to research and make these decisions,” Elzweig says.
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Advisors John Gill and Bryan Horner were joined in the move by Mari Hurd, business practice coordinator, and Katie Bosler, senior registered client service associate.
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The multigenerational practice decided it was time to make the move.
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The 10-person practice, rebranded as Puzzle Wealth Solutions, is led by CEO John Klaas and COO David Millington.
June 21
Bruce worked at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith, now a Bank of America unit, for 32 years,
"The advisory business changed a lot in the last few years, and we wanted to take advantage of that. Our practice has grown to the point where clients need more complex solutions than we had been able to offer and we wanted to be a little more creative in helping them," Bruce says in a statement. "Sanctuary just made the most sense. Most importantly for our clients, joining Sanctuary really gives us the flexibility to shop the whole market to find the most appropriate solutions for their particular situation."
Chief operating officer and advisor Joanna Horton is also joining mFORCE from Merrill Lynch, along with April Bierle, director of office relations and Cheryl McCarson, senior client relationship manager.
The Sanctuary Wealth network includes partner firms across 20 states with over $16 billion in assets under advisement, according to the statement.
mFORCE Capital is the eighth team in Texas to join Sanctuary Wealth, according to the press release.
Jim Dickson, CEO and founder of Sanctuary Wealth, says in the statement "Texas is an extremely strong market for us, but we will continue to expand into additional centers of wealth around the country throughout the coming months."
Vince Fertitta, president of Wealth Management at Sanctuary Wealth, says Bruce’s office was in his division when he was at Merrill Lynch.
"I've always had tremendous respect for his strong work ethic and intense devotion to his clients," he says in the statement. "We're extremely gratified that he chose to join Sanctuary Wealth and I personally look forward to working together again and helping Brad and his team propel mFORCE Capital to even greater growth."
Bruce says he now has “endless possibilities for my clients and for myself. It's a vision that's grand but I know it all starts with taking care of clients to the best of our abilities."
