The Calif.-based advisory firm Conversant Wealth Management, with $255 million in client assets, will be joining with Sanctuary Wealth, becoming the network’s fourth firm in the Golden State. The firm, which is headed by co-founders Jeremy Niederstadt and Jeffrey S. Courtemanche, will be the second California group from Merrill Lynch to join Sanctuary Wealth.
“As an independent firm, we have the freedom and flexibility to provide a better set of choices that will help them achieve their goals,” Courtemanche said. “By partnering with Sanctuary, we get outstanding back-office support, access to industry-leading resources, economies of scale, and best practices from a peer group of elite advisors who share our passion for serving our clients.”
Conversant will be able to access infrastructure support and an open architecture environment from Sanctuary Wealth, which currently is located in 12 states with 33 separate partner firms with a combined total of more than $9 billion in assets under advisement.
Last October, Sanctuary Wealth made its first RIA acquisition with NorthView Asset Management, a $280 million firm based in Austin, Texas. Sanctuary, which had been known for attracting brokers away from the wirehouses, has enticed numerous teams from Merrill Lynch, including two in 2019 totaling more than $1 billion in managed assets (the firm also attracted a two-person advisory team in Houston away from Merrill Lynch earlier this year). The firm’s acquisition of Conversant was indicative of Sanctuary’s “aggressive growth strategy in California,” according to Sanctuary Wealth CEO and Founder Jim Dickson.
“Our open architecture platform will give them the tools they need to forge deeper and more meaningful relationships with their clients,” he said. “At the same time, Sanctuary will help them continue to grow their business both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”