Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management announced in early August that it had left the independent broker-dealer Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network to be an independent registered investment advisory. It left FiNet with $675 million in assets under management.

Landsberg Bennett, based in Punta Gorda, Fla., provides investment and wealth management services along with financial planning for individuals, families and businesses.

The firm is composed of Michael Landsberg, the co-founder and chief investment officer; Lew Bennett, a co-founder and financial advisor; and Anthony Dubbaneh, a co-founder, financial advisor and partner.

The three advisors met while working for Merrill Lynch in Punta Gorda. In 2012, they decided to leave to be independent at FiNet, and they were with the independent broker-dealer for six years before they decided they wanted more independence in running their business.

“There’s complete control with an RIA,” said Michael Landsberg, referring to the difference between Finra’s rules for wirehouses and the SEC’s rules for the RIA space. Under Finra’s watch, Landsberg said, he felt the private wealth management firm was limited in matters such as marketing. The firm was also restricted to products favored by the broker-dealer and it couldn’t build through acquisitions.

The Landsberg Bennett team also wanted to become fiduciaries: “We think people want someone that will step in and say that ‘I want to put your interest first,” Landsberg added. “A lot of broker-dealers want to run the other way and they want to stick with suitability.”

He said he wasn’t specifically commenting on FiNet but on the broker-dealer space in general.

“If I had gone from the wirehouse straight to RIA, I don’t think I would have been able to do that,” he explained.

The team reached out to Fusion Financial Partners, a consultant helping advisory firms into the RIA space. The transition lasted seven to eight months, said Landsberg.

“I think we are where we need to be to service clients for now and where we need to be for the next 10 years,” he said.