$500M FA Ditches Northwestern Mutual, Goes Indie 

A financial advisor managing more than $500 million in client assets has left Northwestern Mutual to launch a hybrid registered investment advisory firm.  

Advisor Blake Butler has launched Tuscaloosa, AL-based Canterbury Capital Wealth Management, which aims to provide investment management services, retirement planning, insurance, tax, and estate planning to high-net-worth clients, individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners, according to the firm. 

The team also provides “in-house” management services, including stocks and bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs, alongside tax-managed investments to qualified and non-qualified investors through the firm’s proprietary strategies, Canterbury Capital Strategies. 

Canterbury Capital also includes financial advisors Frances Taupeka and Marion Stevens, Jr., portfolio manager Casey Sanders, director of client relations Mary Pike, and director of operations Bailey Vance. 

Canterbury Capital has tapped Charles Schwab as its primary custodian, and the firm has partnered with Fusion Financial Partners for back-office support, technology, and operations transition support. The firm also selected MarketCounsel Consulting and the Hamburger Law Firm to support the team for its regulatory compliance and legal counsel. 

Butler was inspired to follow the independent route because his team saw that there was a “huge need” in providing personalized services for clients and that the “RIA space allows [Canterbury Capital] to do that.” 

“With the launch of our RIA, we can offer our clients true integration and the freedom to choose the strategies that we believe are right for them,” Butler said. “Our goal is to add value – to go beyond advice by offering execution, along with the best technology and investment options.”

Pictured: Blake Butler