Four months ago, Matt Kilgroe broke away from his wirehouse career at UBS in St. Petersburg, Fla., and hung out his own shingle at Cyndeo Wealth Partners. And while he expected to bring in new blood to join his new venture (especially from advisors curious about the independent space) what he wasn’t expecting was advisors wanting to flee to his state.

The interest in the Sunshine State especially seemed to be coming from advisors in the Northeast. St. Petersburg in particular seemed popular. And Kilgroe believes Cyndeo can be a destination for those advisors who want to relocate.

The interest has been enough that Kilgroe said he has had to set time aside to manage his LinkedIn account, and that it’s become a major job.

“I have probably been having at least one face-to-face meeting per week [with potential advisors] and probably add in an additional phone call or two,” he said. “So, there has been a lot of interest.

“It’s not like we are reaching out to specific advisors in the Northeast and trying to get them to move to Florida. There are a lot of them that want to, and it’s an exploration that they are going through.”

Three Florida cities—Tampa, Miami and Orlando—were among the top five most popular U.S. relocation choices from March to September, ranking first, fourth and fifth, respectively, according to data from Orbital Insight. The other two cities were Phoenix, which ranked second, and the New York City area, which ranked third. The California-based Orbital Insight, which tracks the movement of goods and people, looked at migration in the 30 largest U.S. metro areas during the pandemic.

Kilgroe, who spent 21 years at Merrill Lynch before moving to UBS, teamed up with Dynasty Financial Partners when forming his new firm in June. Dynasty itself moved its headquarters from New York City to St. Petersburg last year. And Cyndeo, a firm with $1.1 billion in assets and a team of 15 people, became Dynasty’s first announced breakaway deal since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Kilgroe said advisors looking at the firm have come from all age groups. He recalled going to a conference about a year and a half ago, and the Northeast advisors he interacted with brought up a handful of topics, including these three: They were interested in the independent space, Florida and succession planning. All three are familiar things to Cyndeo, Kilgroe said.

The pandemic, he said, has accelerated some of the conversations he has been having with outside advisors. “People who may have been planning to do this in seven to 10 years are now saying there is no reason for [them] not to look now because they are working from home.”

Noting that the average age of an advisor is 57, Kilgroe said many people in that cohort or a bit older, somewhere between 58 and 65, are thinking about relocating. They may want to continue work after 65 for another three to five years but may want to do it from Florida, he said.

Then there are the younger advisors in their 30s up north who are just kind of re-evaluating everything, he said. “They might have two kids and they are thinking, rather than commuting into New York City, it is time to make a change and investigate living in a milder climate and living in a more family-friendly environment.”

He said his team has done a good job of helping people grow their practices, and he noted that some of his advisors came on board because they wanted to grow their business faster.

St. Petersburg offers no shortage of attractions, he said. It has a vibrant financial presence and a great arts community, and the living is cheaper than it is in the Northeast. On top of that, he bragged, it has the Stanley Cup-winning hockey team the Tampa Bay Lighting; the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, which played in this year’s World Series; and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, where four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady decided he wanted to be for his later years. “So, it’s consistent,” Kilgroe said. 

He said Covid-19 has not dramatically slowed business. His team has worked from the office since the launch, he noted, and because they occupy the entire 23^rd floor of a large office building, they have been able to space themselves out and everyone is focused on wearing masks in common areas.

“The nice thing is we are prepared for expansion in terms of adding advisors or advisory teams,” he said, noting that in the meantime, they have more space than they need.

Kilgroe said they do not have a specific number in mind on how big they want to grow the firm. “We are going to be opportunistic, meaning we are going to evaluate the marketplace and evaluate the interest and then look to add people and advisors that fit our culture and fit who we are and who we want to be.”