Three independent wealth advisory firms comprising offices in three states and two countries have completed their merger to create a $4.3 billion firm called Leo Wealth, the companies announced today.
The new entity combines LeoGroup, The Capital Company and BFT Financial Group, which together have 45 employees.
The former LeoGroup, with offices in New York City and Iselin, N.J., brings a strong focus on tax planning and alternative investments. According to Leo Wealth’s website and published reports, one of LeoGroup’s affiliated funds in 2014 used bitcoin to buy a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius violin, which it said was one of the largest cryptocurrency deals at that time.
BFT Financial Group, which operates from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and Hong Kong-based The Capital Group both have fortes in global portfolio strategies and estate planning.
These firms had been talking for a while about teaming up because they each have a growing number of wealthy clients with businesses and/or homes both in the U.S. and in the Asia-Pacific region, and they realized they have complementary core service strengths that could help solve the needs of clients whose finances span different countries, according to a spokesman.
Leo Wealth is led by CEO Matthew Allain, Chief Strategy Officer Eric Katz and Chief Financial Officer Jon Rustin, all of whom were part of LeoGroup. Leo Wealth President Jessica Cutrera and Chief Investment Officer Harmen Overdijk previously were partners at The Capital Company. The company’s chief operating officer, Stephen Tally, was CEO at BFT Financial Group.