Financial advisor Katherine Simmonds has partnered with tru Independence, a Portland, Ore.-based consulting services platform for wealth management firms, to launch Conquis Financial LLC in the San Francisco suburb of Millbrae, Calif., with more than $200 million in client assets, the companies said.
A financial services industry veteran with more than three decades of experience, Simmonds primarily serves the niche market of partners at top tier law firms nationwide. According to her social media posting, from 2016 until last month she was a partner/advisor with Steve Lockshin’s AdvicePeriod, a California-registered investment advisor sold last year to Mariner Wealth Advisors.
“When my previous firm was acquired, it was frustrating not to have the same autonomy that I had grown accustomed to,” Simmonds said in a news release announcing the launch of Conquis. “tru Independence offers my clients and I the guidance, expertise and support required to create better outcomes so that my team and (I) can keep the focus on their best interests.”
Craig Stuvland, tru Independence founder and CEO, said in a prepared statement that he and his company shared the same goal as Simmonds and her team of placing the client’s interests first.
“Katherine’s situation mirrored ongoing conversations we are having with the advisor community, particularly those who are considering a change, but cite lack of choice within the industry as a common concern,” he said.
“It is difficult for advisors to understand all the options there are today,” he said in the news release. “We pride ourselves on being advisor-driven, not model-driven, in how we support the advisor community. Advisors have the freedom to know that when they choose tru, they also choose how they want to be independent.”
In an email, Dogra discussed further what he thought advisors wanted in an affiliate partner. Financial Advisor asked Dogra, in his experience, what he believed advisors wanted in a prospective partner firm that they didn’t know they needed.
“A fiduciary-minded partner,” he said in the email. “Advisors are thinking about what's best for their clients, but is the partner firm looking at what's best for the advisor? Independent firms that truly partner know that forcing an advisor to choose an economic model because it's the only model they offer is not being a fiduciary. Advisors should ask their prospective partner firm why they only offer one form of independence.”
Financial Advisor asked Dogra what tru offered its affiliate advisors.