Chalice Financial Network has partnered with BridgeMark Strategies, a consultant for financial advisors who are transitioning their businesses.

BridgeMark Strategies, based in Charlotte, N.C., is a third-party consultant that advises independent financial advisory firms on mergers and acquisitions. As a result of the partnership, its services will be available to members of the Chalice Financial Network, a fintech company that provides solutions for financial advisors. 

Chalice, based in San Diego, has been adding services and products throughout 2019.

Led by CEO and founder Jeff Nash, a 25-year wealth management industry veteran, BridgeMark provides guidance and support for independent financial advisors looking to move between independent broker-dealer or RIA platforms, establish their own RIA, sell or buy a practice, or maximize growth opportunities by recruiting new advisors to their business, the company said.

BridgeMark’s services are designed for advisory firms with between $50 million to $750 million in advisory and brokerage client assets, which is “an often overlooked and underserved segment of the industry,” BridgeMark said in a press release. “Such advisors typically struggle to find unbiased consultation and advice, since most of the information they come across is provided by the firms attempting to recruit them.”

“Consolidation within the financial industry is going to continue. We are only in the second or third inning of the game on consolidation, but there will always be room for smaller advisory firms," Nash said.

“This is still a person-to-person business, but it may become harder for advisors to fulfill their own personal goals,” he added. “The financial business is becoming so complicated” that there are a wealth of business models for advisors to choose from.

Also fueling the transitions is the fact that there is more private equity money available at the same time broker-dealers are offering more to advisors they want to recruit, he said.

“There is an insatiable thirst for growth within the industry and everybody does things a little differently. It makes decisions very complicated for advisors,” he said.