Sanctuary Wealth, a platform for breakaway advisors, has added The Alteri Group, a former Merrill Lynch team, to its expanding network of independent advisors.
Based in Lufkin, Texas, and led by Max Alvis, The Alteri Group will join the Sanctuary platform through 6 Degrees Wealth—a joint venture of G Squared Private Wealth, led by George Georgiades and Victoria Greene, and Concenture Wealth Advisors, led by Robert Gilliland. With $460 million in assets under management, they are the second breakaway team to join 6 Degrees this year.
“There are many flavors of independence and several avenues through which advisors can choose to join Sanctuary. In this case, the team chose to do so by tucking in to 6 Degrees Wealth, one of our rapidly growing partner firms,” said Sanctuary CEO Jim Dickson, who spent 20 years at Merrill Lynch. “As a company, Sanctuary is committed to helping our partner firms grow organically by constantly expanding the offerings on our platform and inorganically through co-investment that facilitates M&A activity.”
Alvis, who served as the senior resident director at the Lufkin office, began his career as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 1991.
“The impetus behind the decision to leave Merrill Lynch after 31 years is that we feel working with an independent firm is what will be best for our clients over the long term,” he said. “It also made sense at this point in my career, although I’m not planning to retire, to think about a succession plan. I know the character of the people at Sanctuary and that means a lot to me. Years ago, [Sanctuary President] Vince Fertitta and I were young producing managers working together in the same complex, and we’ve maintained a relationship since the 90s.”
“Max and I go back more than 20 years and I consider him to be one of the most honorable people I know,” said Fertitta. “Max’s primary concern is his clients and his team. He’s always put their interest far ahead of his own. By combining forces with 6 Degrees and Sanctuary Wealth, he can be assured that his clients will have access to a wide range of investment solutions and state-of-the-art technology and that his team will have additional handpicked trusted mentors in George Georgiades, Vicki Greene, and Robert Gilliland. It feels like old home week, and I couldn’t be more excited to be writing a new chapter together.”
“One of the great things about being a Sanctuary Wealth partner is how committed they are to providing resources we need to continue growing,” said 6 Degrees CEO George Georgiades.
Joining Alvis at 6 Degrees Wealth will be the other team members of The Alteri Group, including Wealth Advisors Will Alvis and Alexis Hudson Pigg as well as Registered Client Associate Jennifer Hansard and Client Associates Elisabeth Alvis Kennedy and Viridiana Cruz. Will Alvis spent more than nine years with Merrill Lynch, where he was a senior financial advisor and vice president. Hudson Pigg joined Merrill in 2012.
“George, Robert, and I were also producing managers in the same region for decades, becoming close friends, and I relied on Vicki’s market expertise for years at Merrill,” said Alvis. “I have always admired their professionalism and know we share the same philosophy and client-first mentality.”
Into its fourth year, the Sanctuary Wealth network currently includes partner firms in 27 states across the country with approximately $25 billion in assets under advisement. Sanctuary Wealth includes the fully owned subsidiaries Sanctuary Advisors, an SEC-registered investment advisor; Sanctuary Securities, its broker/dealer; as well as Sanctuary Alternative Holdings, Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global and Sanctuary Global Family Office.