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August 03, 2016 at 01:00 PM
A group of independent reps in the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network has left the firm and launched an RIA that is now part of Focus Financial Partners.
Registered investment advisor GYL Financial Synergies opened its doors on Aug. 1 in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its team includes Gerald Goldberg, Jonathan Yolles, Michael Lepore and Claire McDonald. Goldberg will serve as chief executive officer, Yolles as chief investment officer and Lepore and McDonald as senior managing directors.
The principals oversee some $4.5 billion in client assets, according to the “Wall Street Journal,” and have spent over 15 years working together at Wells Fargo and its predecessors; in 2014, they formed Goldberg, Yolles & Lepore, LLC and became part of Wells Fargo FiNet.
“Our guiding principle has always been to put our clients’ interests first. Establishing GYL as an independent RIA puts us in the best position to provide objective advice, expanded access to best-in-class investment options and excellent service to our clients,” said Goldberg, in a statement. “We are very excited to work with Focus, a firm known for supporting entrepreneurial RIA firms. The access to resources and capital we will have as a part of the Focus partnership will enable us to grow our new firm, both organically and through M&A transactions.”
“The founding mission of the Focus Independence program is to help elite advisors fully realize their entrepreneurial potential and serve in the clients’ best interests,” said Chris Dupuy, president of Focus Independence, in a press release. “GYL’s long standing commitment to excellent client services and their drive to grow makes them a natural fit for Focus.”
Independent advisor platform Kestra Financial, says it has welcomed the billion-dollar advisory team of Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Wiser Financial Group, which formerly worked with Transamerica Financial Advisors. Advisors Wesley Lentz, Clinton VanLinder, Robert Amberg, Jr. and Robert Campbell collectively manage nearly $1 billion in assets at the firm, which was founded in 1960.
“The Wiser Financial Group’s established, sophisticated advisory team is well positioned to take advantage of Kestra’s vast resources while allowing the advisors to focus on serving clients and growing the firm,” James Poer, CEO of Kestra Financial, said in a statement. (Kestra used to operate as NFP Advisor Services but recently changed its name when its ownership transferred from Madison Dearborn Partners to Stone Point Capital.)
Meanwhile, advisors at Abilene, Texas-based First Financial Bank are set to work with Raymond James Financial Services for investment and wealth management services they offer clients—as will Sturgis Bank & Trust Company of Sturgis, Michigan.
