Finding True Independence: Ameriprise Lifers Managing $2.5 Billion Open an RIA

If you want a sign of where the industry is headed, look at Laurel Oak Wealth Management, a New Jersey-based practice whose six lead advisors had spent over 140 years collectively at Ameriprise Financial.   

Christopher Heiser, Robert Andreacchio Jr., Louis Laselva, Matthew Fitzgerald, Keith Radimer, plus COO Greg Rosen handed in their resignation letters on Wednesday to open their own advisory firm in Marlton.  

The Laurel group, five of whom had spent their careers at Ameriprise’s 1099 “franchisee” channel, could easily have remained in their seats until their retirement. Their 24-person team managed $2.5 billion in assets and had $14 million in annual revenue.  

But as many industry veterans are realizing, those comforts came with a cost. The platform served Laurel well, but ultimately even the 1099 brokerage model did not feel independent. There were concerns about high ticket charges, limited product menus, strict rules around marketing and technology that had not kept pace with the industry.  

Finding the right partners was key in making the Laurel group feel comfortable, especially since many had never moved firms before. Roger Gershman and Jenny Kim of The Gershman Group represented the team’s search and were instrumental in putting together this very large, complex deal over the last two years.   

Another key piece was the Laurel group’s selection of Goldman Sachs as their custodian. Goldman is a newer entrant into RIA custody but has reimagined the once-boring world with better technology and proprietary investment access once available to only high-end private wealth advisors who were employees at the bank.   

RIAs can use the Goldman name as well as access to the entire platform and services including a world-class investment platform with differentiated alternatives; sophisticated lending solutions; access to institutional research and analysts; and direct access to the investment bank. Goldman has also smoothed the onboarding process so advisors aren’t burdened by paperwork and can continue to focus on clients during the transition.  

Gershman and Kim also guided the team in their search for the best service provider to address the day-to-day operations for newly independent RIA. It was key for a team leaving a semi-captive world after almost three decades to have a partner who could handle their back-office tasks with leading-edge technology solutions such as reporting, workstations and client interface.  

Laurel decided on Sanctuary’s outsourced service provider tru Independence, which offers a simple yet very sophisticated, cost-effective solution for those teams who care to own their own ADV.  

“The costs associated with doing business are a fraction of what advisors are used to—with exponentially better tech, service and support,” Gershman says.   

Finally, the deal couldn’t have been complete without a very strong transition package addressing the various needs of the team, including succession planning and making up for forfeited deferred compensation or repaying promissory notes.  

Laurel partnered with Merchant Investment Management, a dominant player investing in and actively consulting with some of the nation’s most successful breakaway advisory teams. Merchant has developed a creative way to help advisors monetize their life’s work without relinquishing control.    

Merchant, which currently backs over 115 firms that include over 4,000 advisors managing $250 billion in assets, offers other significant benefits as well. Even with a minority position, they’re incentivized to actively help their partner firms grow exponentially—whether it be organically or through acquisitions—from single team practices into large enterprises.   

Laurel sold a minority stake—about 20%—at a very attractive multiple of pretax earnings. And the deal came with a kicker: The group has the option to eventually sell a larger stake at a much higher multiple when Merchant goes public or achieves another major liquidity event.  

“It’s the kind of offer that simply didn’t exist in the old world of promissory notes and golden handcuffs,” Gershman says.    

You don’t have to follow this exact path. That’s the point; you get to choose from any number of capital and service providers and custodians to find the one that is best for you and your clients. But Laurel’s story is a guide to the growing options for those who realize that the 1099 model has evolved, and there’s another step to full independence.