Dynasty Financial helps $550M Merrill team go independent
Six advisors break away from the wirehouse to launch a firm in Alabama.
A team of six advisors have launched an independent firm in Birmingham, Alabama, having left Merrill Lynch.
The breakaways have partnered with Dynasty Financial Partners to launch Fairvoy Private Wealth, a fiduciary firm operating on a fee-only basis. The multidisciplinary team of veteran advisors managed $550 million in client assets at their old firm.
Leading the firm as managing partner and senior private wealth advisor is Stephen Davis, who is joined by Neal Carroll as chief operating officer and senior private wealth advisor; Ashley Davis as chief financial officer and senior private wealth advisor; H. Alan Word, director and senior private wealth advisor; Claudia Johnston, vice president and private wealth advisor; and Alma Maric, vice president and associate wealth advisor.
Davis said the decision to leave the wirehouse environment for independence with Dynasty was the result of “years of research on all our options, and the realization that Dynasty’s technology positions us to communicate easily with clients and provide customized planning focused on their immediate and long-term needs.”
The Fairvoy team believe clients will benefit from the greater personalization that independence allows, and this view is endorsed by Leo Kelly, a veteran of Merrill Lynch who told InvestmentNews earlier this year why he gave up his esteemed role as one of the firm’s Thundering Herd of financial advisors more than a decade ago for independence.
“We don’t have the conflict of interests that exist in the wirehouse,” Kelly said. “And not only is it more fun to run the business, but it’s easier to grow the business. Our relationship with the client has also deepened in a way that I don’t think we had when I was at Merrill.”
GROWING DYNASTY
For Dynasty, the addition of the Alabama-based team continues the network’s growth to 55 independent firms with more than 370 advisors managing over $87 billion on its core technology platform.
The firm recently welcomed Tim Oden, most known for his tenure of senior leadership at Schwab, as an executive-in-residence for 2024.
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