Aiming to build practice and pass it on, father chooses new IBD

Financial advisor Tom Schorn says he hopes to work another 10 years or so before passing Schorn Wealth Management and his new RIA on to his three sons.

“I'd rather not sell this practice and leave them an inheritance of money,” Schorn says. “I would rather leave them the legacy of a business of some significant size, and that's where my discussions with Atria [Wealth Solutions] really fit where I was looking to go.”

The Coral Springs, Florida-based Schorn, five other advisors on his team and their three offices switched their broker-dealer to Atria’s Sorrento Pacific Financial from Cetera Financial Group’s First Allied Securities on Sept. 11, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.

Schorn’s RIA, Fiduciary Planning, launched formally in May with an expected AUM of at least $100 million, according to its initial SEC Form ADV. He declines to state the exact level of client assets managed by the team, however.

Sorrento has a service agreement for back-office support from its fellow San Diego-based Atria IBD, CUSO Financial Services, according to Sorrento’s Form ADV. Atria will also provide Schorn access to potential M&A deals without being “some type of middleman,” he says.

“The acquisition and succession planning that I would be able to be involved in, I would not be able to find anywhere,” Schorn says. “What pushed this is my desire to leave my business in the condition that I want to leave it to my three sons. I was looking for a partner to help me achieve my legacy.”

Representatives for Cetera didn’t respond to requests for comment on Schorn’s departure.

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Schorn began his financial services career in 1997 with HD Vest, BrokerCheck shows. His eldest son, Thomas II, has started working for him full time while the two of them work toward master’s degrees in financial planning in an online program from the University of Georgia.

Another son is also working part time for the practice while an undergraduate at High Point University, according to Schorn. He says the three offices currently use distinct brands but will eventually adopt the name of the new RIA, which selected TD Ameritrade as its custodian.

Middle-market private equity firm Lee Equity Partners — Atria’s parent — has supported the wealth management holding company’s four BD acquisitions since launching in 2017. Sorrento and the three others have 2,000 advisors and $65 billion in assets under administration.

“Tom embraces the industry transformation underway and is aligned with Atria's thinking that the future is now,” Atria Chief Growth Officer Kevin Beard said in a statement. Atria “will partner with him as he grows his business and looks to acquire additional firms in the future,” Beard added.

Schorn spoke frequently with Beard as he embarked on the search for a potential new BD nearly a year ago. Atria stood out among the firms in the sector, Schorn says.

“Through all those conversations we had and a couple meetings we had, I really could tell that this was going to be different,” Schorn says. “I was not going to be a rep number. I was going to be part of his team.”