Private bankers from Wells Fargo, BofA form RIA

Startup Fidelis Capital has offices in Tampa and Dallas; the bankers advised on almost $6 billion in AUM at their former firms.

A group of private bankers who advised on almost $6 billion in assets at the private banking arms of Wells Fargo and Bank of America have formed Fidelis Capital, an adviser-owned registered investment advisory firm with teams in Tampa, Florida, and Dallas.

Neale Ellis, the firm’s founding partner and co-chief investment officer, was formerly a managing director and senior portfolio manager at Bank of America Private Bank, formerly US Trust, where he helped found and co-manage the firm’s managed active core portfolio for nine years.

“In the past few years, the private banking model has changed drastically,” Ellis said in a statement. “With the launch of Fidelis Capital, we are on a mission to revive the access to a team of experts and give ultra-high-net-worth families, institutions, and other private banking clients the kind of team that can manage not some, but all of their financial matters, giving them back what money can’t buy — time!”

Rick Simonetti, the firm’s chief executive, spent 22 years at Wells Fargo Private Wealth Management,

The firm’s adviser team is led by Matthew Michaels, a top-ranked portfolio managers at Wells Fargo, and Paul Ayotte, who spent 18 years at Wells Fargo Private Bank as a wealth adviser.