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June 29, 2015 at 10:33 AM
(Bloomberg) — David J. La Placa, a wealth manager in Deutsche Bank AG’s San Francisco office, resigned on Friday with three colleagues to start Intellectus Partners, a boutique firm catering to entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
Their new firm started today with La Placa, 46, as chief executive officer and co-founder Jay Casey, as president, La Placa said in an interview. Kelly Morton and Tina Chan left Deutsche Bank to become vice presidents. The group managed about $3 billion at Deutsche Bank, said La Placa.
The group is joining a stream of brokers that have left big banks and brokerages to start up their own firms, as technology makes reporting and trading easier and advisers relish in the chance to own equity in their own business. The group bolted with help from Dynasty Financial Partners, a 5-year-old New York-based company that finds office space, sets up trading systems and handles such details as printing business cards for brokers and advisers.
“The size of breakaways is picking up,” said Shirl Penney, Dynasty’s founder. “The next tier after the early adopters, who didn’t want to be first, is now coming into the market.”
Intellectus is one of the biggest among the 29 teams that Dynasty has turned into independent investment advisers. Penney said Dynasty, which works with firms overseeing a combined $23 billion, took 12 teams independent in 2014. The company expects to do the same for as many as 15 this year.
No ‘Salespeople’
La Placa said his firm will be fee-based, meaning Intellectus can charge clients an annual advisory fee or a commission for certain products.
