Sanctuary Wealth Partners rolls out red carpet for breakaway brokers

Five deals in five months lift the fledgling hybrid RIA to $5.5 billion.

Sanctuary Wealth Partners has signed its fifth advisory team in as many months, bringing its total assets under to management to $5.5 billion.

The Indianapolis-based hybrid RIA announced Monday the addition of RiceBarrett Family Wealth, a $240 million Indianapolis-based firm.

Sanctuary president Jim Dickson said the company will likely announce the addition of a Texas-based institutional asset manager Tuesday. He did not comment further on that deal.

Sanctuary launched in May when it acquired $2.5 billion in assets under management from David A. Noyes & Co., a 110-year-old broker-dealer and advisory firm, of which Sanctuary is still affiliated.

Mr. Dickson said the Sanctuary model is designed to target breakaway brokers that are doing at least $1 million in production.

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“We try to make their existence like it was at the wirehouses, but also give them the freedom and control that they want,” he said.

In line with industry trends and the new brand of Sanctuary as not an old-school brokerage firm, Mr. Dickson said at least 80% of the business conducted by Sanctuary is fee-based.

Mike Wunderli, managing director at the investment bank Echelon Partners, described the Sanctuary business as a “rebranded arm of Noyes.”

“They want to view it as a network to build out the RIA business,” he said. “It’s difficult in this environment to win these deals, and they believe the clearer and simpler you can make this the better it is going to be.”

The Sanctuary model allows advisory firms to operate under they own banner, but usually still register under the Sanctuary RIA, and be fully supported by the firm’s platform.