A group of eight internationally-focused financial advisors have left Wells Fargo for the independent RIA channel in part because the wirehouse halted its wealth management business outside the U.S. earlier this year.
“We needed to find a new home for our clients,” says Marlen Lopez, a senior wealth advisor at Excelsis Global Private Wealth, on choosing Sanctuary Wealth.
The team, which focuses on clients in Mexico, brings $5.5 million in revenue annually, Sanctuary wrote in a statement. Sanctuary would not disclose the team’s assets under management.
Andrew Tasnady, managing partner at Tasnady and Associates, says the reason for the move could be “all about your existing client relationships.”
“Most advisors feel that when they move they can bring most of their clients with them,” he says. “You're much better off finding a place where you can get those clients than trying to start all over” in a brand-new domestic business, he says.
A spokesperson for Wells Fargo would not comment on the eight departures but said more than 60% of advisors who primarily focused on international clients have already departed the company, “which is in line with our expectations.”
Tasnady says that number could be higher.
“Unless you've only done it for a year, if you're very junior and you don't have a lot of established client relationships... maybe you'd want to stay with the existing firm and switch over to a U.S.-based team or business. But, I would think most people in international have more than a few years experience and do have those client relationships,” he says.
In January, Wells Fargo said iit was existing the international market in an effort to simplify its business because it is a segment that "requires different processes, approaches and infrastructure maintenance," a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in April according to
Lopez, one of the group’s managing partners, worked at Wells Fargo for five years and before then, she worked at brokerage Merrill Lynch for eight years, according to BrokerCheck.
Sanctuary provided the advisors with support for the technology, operations, and logistics of the move, which Lopez says were helpful.
“It could be a little scary going from a regular brokerage firm or a bank brokerage to going independent, but Sanctuary just makes it so much easier because they provide that transition,” Lopez 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.
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“What Sanctuary Global has to offer will allow us to better serve our clients, regardless of where they live. As owners of our business, we are empowered to make all of our own decisions and grow our firm unfettered," Lopez says in a press release.
Excelsis Global Private Wealth is Sanctuary’s first multi-city team, hailing from offices in McAllen, Laredo, and San Antonio in Texas.
The McAllen team is made up of six advisors: Marlen Lopez, Roberto Lopez, Erasmo Salinas, Florentino Chapa, Lorena Guerrero, and Javier Ordorica.
The Laredo and San Antonio offices are headed by Carlos de la Garza and Rene Perez, respectively.
The team is also joined by Itcel Zuniga, formerly a registered senior wealth associate at Wells Fargo, and Angelica Avila and Claudia Sandoval, wealth associates at Wells Fargo.
Sanctuary Wealth includes 53 firms across 20 states with more than $16 billion in assets under advisement, according to the press statement.
Jim Dickson, CEO and founder of Sanctuary Wealth, says in the statement advisors with both domestic and international clients “continue to gravitate toward Sanctuary Wealth because our model of partnered independence gives them something no one else can.”
"This is an extremely exciting time for Sanctuary as we continue to enhance the offerings on our platform, recruit the industry's top talent and expand our footprint into new markets, and we couldn't be more pleased that Excelsis Global Private Wealth has chosen to join us on this journey," Dickson says in the statement.
