Sanctuary Wealth has added four breakaway advisors who together are launching NobleVest Private Wealth, a Springfield, Mo.–based advisory practice with collectively more than $400 million in assets under management; the new firm is Sanctuary’s 17th breakaway firm of 2021.
NobleVest's four founding partners are Geoff Stufflebam, Ken Roberts and Shweta Agarwal, joining Sanctuary from Morgan Stanley, while founder Kraig Bode will be joining the new endeavor from Ameriprise. Combined, the four founders have more than seven decades of industry experience and it is the second team out of Missouri to partner with Sanctuary this year (the firm previously welcomed the $150 million AUM Missouri-based Cape Rock Private Wealth in August).
NobleVest is also the first team this year to combine founders from two separate wirehouses. According to Stufflebaum, Sanctuary offered more flexibility in delivering client services.
“It became increasingly clear in conversations with clients, especially over the last 24 months, that they needed more, and we felt that the best way to meet their evolving needs was to go independent,” he said. “We’re very excited about our new venture in the independent space because we are able to do everything we could in our previous roles, plus so much more.”
Stufflebaum had 14 years with Morgan Stanley before NobleVest, while Roberts spent nearly 10 years with the wirehouse, and worked 14 years as the president of Bolivar Investment Services at the Bank of Bolivar. Stufflebam and Agarwal had 14 and four years with Morgan Stanley, respectively, and the latter founder also worked at Waddell & Reed for four years as an advisor. Bode spent 16 years with Ameriprise in total. In addition to the four founders, Senior Operations Manager Julie Billings will complete the new team.
In May, former tennis pro Rodolfo “Rudy” Rake joined Sanctuary’s international wealth management business from Morgan Stanley to support the firm’s global profile. In September, Sanctuary attracted its 10th Merrill Lynch breakaway of the year when Eric White joined with the firm as the head of the Bend, Ore.–based Crosswaters Wealth Management, with $230 million AUM. In August, Sanctuary welcomed another Merrill breakaway, Robert “Rory” O’Hara, a New Jersey–based advisor partnered with the firm as Ausperity Private Wealth, with $500 million AUM.
Sanctuary CEO and Founder Jim Dickson said the new partnership demonstrated the importance of shared culture and prioritizing clients’ needs, and suggested that 2022 would be an “even more exciting” year for the firm. In a July interview with WealthManagement.com, Dickson said that the firm attracted breakways by recognizing that advisors want to “be independent but not alone.”
“Really, what that means is they wanted a place where it was easy to do business, where it felt like a wirehouse, but with a lot more freedom and flexibility to show their clients truly open architecture across the independent spectrum,” he said. “That’s what we’ve built."