A Merrill Lynch-intensive breakaway raft of $25-billion AUA nabbed $1-billion ex-Merrill 'Auric' and hired 'Mary Ann' -- whose last stop was at Merrill where she was a 'favorite'
CEO Jim Dickson was able to lure Mary Ann Bartels out of her furlough to join Sanctuary and flex her newfound knowledge of the metaverse and cryptoverse.
7 min read- Sanctuary Wealth hired Mary Ann Bartels as chief investment strategist from Merrill Lynch.
- Bartels will focus on innovative investments like DeFi, NFTs, and the metaverse.
- Rollup added two Merrill Lynch teams managing $1 billion AUA, forming RIA Auric.
Brooke's Note: Since hearing Mark Tibergien speak last Thursday in San Diego, I can't get his meta statement out of my mind -- that the wealth advice business switched from fragmentation mode to integration mode. The ex-Moss Adams/Pershing chief is almost certainly right in the meta sense about where the big action and energy coalesces today. The bad news for wirehouses is that, for them, the fragmentation era is still pretty much in full force. Sanctuary is in the process of bringing over two very highly talented ex-Merrill Lynch women to keep the fragmentation rolling -- even though neither brings a book of business. Of course, they will be immediately integrated -- albeit to a rollup that is a fragment to Wall Street's way of thinking. Like a sharp shard, you step on it, and it sends you to the ER.
If you leave Mother Merrill, you'll need to take Sanctuary -- whether you're a rank-and-file stockbroker or from the higher ivory towers of strategy and investing.
Mary Ann Bartels took that advice following a well-worn path from Merrill Lynch to Sanctuary Wealth as its new chief investment strategist.
The newly created position is aimed at helping advisors sell "innovative investment solutions to clients," which may include "decentralized finance including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse,"
The $25-billion AUA rollup founded in 2018 by former Merrill Lynch divisional executive Jim Dickson hired the 35-year financial services veteran executive who has spent the last 20 years at Merrill Lynch -- most recently as both head of technical & market analysis and leader of the Research Investment Committee.
The Sanctuary Wealth SEC ADV lists $12 billion of AUM. Typically AUA encompasses AUM but also includes assets that are commission-based.
Sanctuary Wealth is also onboarding Laura Anacker as portfolio strategist.
She spent most of the last nine years constructing portfolios for over 700 domestic and international Merrill Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors.
The day after original publication of this article, Sanctuary nabbed two Merrill Lynch teams with a combined $1 billion of AUA that are forming an RIA, Auric, straddling Phoenix and Orange County with an ultrahigh net worth bent. Dickson hinted that his rollup was making hires to serve that level of wealth.
Loving Merrill but leaving Merrill, two 38-year olds and an 'old guy' take $700 million of assets to an RIA citing the model's better mousetrap
"We've been working hard over the past couple of years to enhance our ultra-high net worth solutions for Sanctuary partner firms and their clients," said Dickson. "Auric's decision to launch their new firm with Sanctuary is a testament to the breadth and depth of resources and capabilities that we've added on this front."
Eye on the Future
Bartels hints that one reason she signed onto Sanctuary after being a big wheel on Wall Street is that she gets to roll with her newfound passion for hyper-future oriented investments.
After leaving Bank of America/Merrill in 2020, Bartels immersed herself in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain, NFT and cryptocurrencies, taking several courses and joining the London Real Investment Club, a prestigious investment club that specializes in the space.
The hype train went largely off the rails for those categories of late but Bartels is undeterred.
"I believe this is a new part of our infrastructure that's going to be built out over time," she explained.
"We will probably go through many changes as this new form of technology evolves under the umbrella of decentralized finance including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse, and I want to be able to help Sanctuary's advisors and their clients understand and participate in this exciting new development."
Story Timeline
Breaking from normal
"Independent financial advisors don't normally have access to someone of Mary Ann's caliber," Dickson. now CEO, says in a release. "Our network will have direct access to collaborate with her as much as they want."
A 20-year Merrill Lynch veteran got Sanctuary Wealth to $10 billion in AUA in 15 months with no outside capital and no time in bed: 'Nobody's slept since April'
What makes Bartels so effective is her ability to make complexity digestible, says Vince Fertitta, president of Sanctuary Wealth and another Merrill Lynch alum.
"During our time together at Merrill Lynch, Mary Ann was a favorite of both the financial advisors and some of our largest clients," he said "She has an incredible knack for making the complex easy to digest and to act upon."
She is also able to take her show to the airwaves having served as frequent commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox Business, though she was not made available to RIABiz. Sanctuary includes partner firms in 27 states across the country.
Dickson was also not available for comment today but a spokeswoman says he may be available tomorrow and we will add fresh quotes if we receive them.
Merrill breakaways
Bartels left Merrill in 2020 to care for her aunt Bernadette Bartels Murphy, according to Wealthmanagement.com.
Murphy started working on Wall Street in the 1950s and rose to become one of the first woman traders and investment counselors.
She also ended up mentoring her niece, Mary Ann, and convincing here to give it a go in the financial world.
The last time RIABiz wrote about Sanctuary in 2019, the Indianapolis startup had grown to $10 billion of AUA in just its first 15 months in existence -- an epic act of hustle to bring in a stream of Merrill-centric breakaways. See: A 20-year Merrill Lynch veteran got Sanctuary Wealth to $10 billion in AUA in 15 months with no outside capital and no time in bed: 'Nobody's slept since April'
The parade of Merrill brokers is still happening. Sanctuary Wealth announced, Aug. 19, that it nabbed The Alteri Group and its assets under management of $460 million from Merrill Lynch in Lufkin, Texas.
The Auric team came over to get the best of Merrill Lynch but without ... Merrill Lynch., according to Luke McKelvy, partner, managing director, operations, Auric Capital Partners in a release.
'Both worlds'
"Sanctuary offered us the type of support we were used to getting, but with the freedom to manage our business as we saw fit," he says. "We can own the client relationship and their information, and yet we have a strong partner to assist us on the aspects of the business that never touch the client. It's really the best of both worlds."
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