Atria Wealth Solutions, the New York City-based wealth management holding company for independent RIAs and broker-dealers, recruited three wealth managers from Signature Bank, the failed New York-based institution that became the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history when it was taken over by federal regulators in March.
The three professionals—Edwin Milner, Laura Palacios, and Jason Kurz—together manage more than $1 billion in client assets and will join Atria’s American Investment Planners (AIP) in Jericho, N.Y., the largest branch of Atria‘s Cadaret Grant subsidiary.
“This is about creating a long-term relationship that empowers them to be their best and deliver an elite wealth management experience for their clients,” said William Morrissey, president of Cadaret Grant and head of Atria’s independent channel, in a press release.
The wealth management trio, who provide financial planning and retirement and private wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals, businesses, and foundations, will be an independent team at AIP.
Most recently, Milner, Palacios, and Kurz had been employed by New York Community Bancorp's Flagstar Bank, the institution that operated Signature Bank’s 40 former branches after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took control.
Since the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, a number of their advisors have moved to other firms.
“Our business is built on open and honest relationships with our clients, and we owed it to them to offer more robust investment solutions and better technology while still providing the tailored high-touch service they are accustomed to,” said Palacios, in a statement. “Feedback from our clients, as well as the recent bank challenges, prompted us to seek a partner who understands our vision and has the capabilities and resources to help us realize that vision.”
By joining Atria, she added, she and her team will be able to provide their clients with a higher level of services, solutions, and technologies “that go far beyond anything we have seen.”
Brian Amato, AIP’s executive vice president, also praised the “new partnership.” It brings together “successful, like-minded financial professionals with unique expertise,” he said, and “will enable us to further expand our services and meet the ever-growing needs and goals of our clients.”
The wealth management industry is ever-changing, said Atria CEO and founding partner Doug Ketterer in the press release. “Successful financial professionals and investment programs [are] seeking not just stable and well-resourced platforms for the clients they serve, but also those that are dynamic and can quickly adapt to the fluidity of our industry,” he said. “Our goal from day one has been to provide the best solution sets for our clients while at the same time providing the greatest amount of flexibility and optionality.”
By affiliating with Atria, he added, the former Signature Bank professionals will have access to a wide-ranging variety of technologies and other products that support their independent business model.
This is the latest development in Atria’s growth momentum. Since its founding in 2017, it has grown to a network of some 2,700 financial professionals and more that $100 billion of assets under administration, through its subsidiaries. This addition is in keeping with its “broader value proposition to growth-oriented financial professionals from the independent and employee channels who are seeking to reach the next level of success as wealth management business owners,” said Morrissey.