Pallas Capital Advisors LLC is a relatively new registered investment advisor with big plans to attract wirehouse financial advisors to its platform, and it expanded on that business model with the recent addition of an advisor team that managed more than $300 million in assets at Merrill Lynch.

Eric Lalime, a certified financial planner, and Patricia Lucas, a client associate with 25 years of industry experience, formerly did business as Lalime & Associates in Paramus, N.J. The duo now operates under the Pallas Capital name and has moved into a roughly 3,500-square-foot office in nearby in Park Ridge, N.J., that Pallas renovated in anticipation of adding more advisors in its efforts to build a larger presence in the New York City/Northern New Jersey metro area.

Based in the Boston suburb of Braintree, Mass., Pallas Capital was created in 2019 by three financial services executives with considerable track records at wirehouse firms and other financial services companies. It became an RIA in 2020, hired additional high-level executives from the likes of Lincoln Financial Network and BNY Mellon, and has built what it calls a comprehensive wealth management platform that’s strong in the areas of trust and estate planning, along with financial planning and investment management.

It aims to attract wirehouse advisors who serve ultra-high-net-worth clients, and the addition of the former Lalime & Associates comes about a month after Pallas Capital added a $300 million team from UBS.

“These teams are well-versed in a very comprehensive approach with estate planning and asset management in the ultra-high-net-worth space,” Richard Mullen, founding parter and CEO of Pallas Capital, said in an interview. “With the second team in a month joining us, I think it’s an affirmation that advisors are recognizing the validity of our model and the value we deliver.”

He noted that Eric Lalime had a prior professional relationship with one of Pallas Capital’s founders, and was interested in going the RIA route. Lalime called Pallas Capital to learn more about the firm, and it turned out to be a good match.

“One of the big reasons why Eric saw value [in joining Pallas Capital] is we’ll allow him to grow by virtue of him leveraging our investment team and planning team,” Mullen said.

He added that his firm has fielded other calls from wirehouses advisors who’ve inquired about Pallas Capital, but they’re being choosy about who to bring on board.

"We’ve turned down five advisor teams that didn’t fit our model,” Mullen said. “We’re not growing for the sake of growing. We’re being very judicious and responsible in our growth.”

He said that Pallas Capital expects to add two more advisor teams by year end.