A trio of Merrill Lynch advisors who managed about $685 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets in Wichita, Kan., has launched a new independent practice in affiliation with LPL Financial’s independence model, LPL Strategic Wealth Services, according to a news release.
Air Capital Wealth Management, operated by Michael Caffrey, Derek Keller and Gabriel Parham, has a client base that includes doctors, engineers and pilots, as well as farmers, teachers and small business owners, the release noted. The advisors are joined by two support staff.
The trio of longtime colleagues each bring diverse experiences and perspectives to the team, the release said. According to BrokerCheck, Caffrey started with Merrill Lynch in 2013. The release noted that he was mentored by his father, Ron Caffrey, who spent more than four decades in the industry, and was with Merrill Lynch from 2011 to 2019, BrokerCheck said.
“We want to be able to focus on clients, their goals and objectives, not corporate mandates,” said Caffrey, who has been recognized on several Forbes list this year, including the lists of Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams and Best-in-State Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors. “LPL provides us with the flexibility and resources we need to make our own decisions and build our business how we want,” he said.
“Our mission is to help each individual client with their financial goals by simplifying the complexities, making it easier for them to understand,” added Parham, who started with Wells Fargo in 2013 and moved to Merrill in 2017.
Keller, who began his career with AXA Advisors in 2006 and joined Merrill in 2010, said the team “looks forward to having more time to interface with clients and providing them with differentiated experiences.”