$2.3B Ex-Ameriprise Team Launches RIA  

A five-person financial advisory team has left Ameriprise Financial, where they collectively managed $2.3 billion in client assets, to launch a New Jersey-based independent registered investment advisor. 

Marlton, NJ-based Laurel Oak Wealth Management provides “personalized” financial planning, retirement planning, tax and estate planning, risk management, and investment management to high-net-worth individuals, families, pre-retirees, and retirees, according to the firm’s website. 

Laurel Oak Wealth Management was founded in 2007 by private wealth advisors and managing partners Christopher Heiser, Robert Andreacchio, Louis LaSelva, Matthew Fitzgerald, and Keith Radimer. The advisors collectively bring more than 135 years of combined industry experience to Laurel Oak. 

The team is also joined by financial advisors JoAnn Morgano, Sean Ryan, Caroline Burke, Gary Johnston, and Jacob Hanzel, as well as 12 financial planners and client support staff, according to the firm’s website. 

The firm has partnered with Sanctuary Wealth’s Tru Independence to receive compliance, back-office support, transition support, and various administrative resources, according to its latest Form ADV. 

Laurel Oak has also received backing from RIA minority investor Merchant Investment Management, and Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions will serve as the firm’s primary custodian. Additionally, some financial advisors at Laurel Oak will be affiliated with Purshe Kaplan Sterling for its brokerage business, according to the firm’s Form ADV 2A. 

“Our goal in launching Laurel Oak was to create a firm where advice is personal, communication is clear, and clients always come first,” Heiser said. “As an independent RIA, we now have the flexibility to tailor strategies without the limitations of a corporate agenda.” 

Ameriprise has declined to comment on the 23-person team’s departure. 

However, at least four advisors, Anne Holderried, Bryan Dein, Nancy Findlay, and Michael Newman, remained with Ameriprise, where they oversaw about $450 million in client assets under Laurel Oak.  

Those advisors have joined another Ameriprise practice located in Voorhees, NJ, which is led by advisor Albert Brocious, an Ameriprise spokesperson said. 

In March, LPL Financial added a California-based financial advisory firm, which manages about $275 million in client assets from Ameriprise.  

In November, Steward Partners acquired New Jersey-based Mainstay Wealth Management, which manages more than $850 million in assets from Ameriprise.

Pictured: Laurel Oak Wealth Management