How Jim Dickson Once Drank the Merrill Kool-Aid, Then Set Out to Build a Better ToolboxHow Jim Dickson Once Drank the Merrill Kool-Aid, Then Set Out to Build a Better Toolbox
A conversation with Jim Dickson, founder and president of Sanctuary Wealth Partners.
Jim Dickson, a former Merrill Lynch division leader, joins Mindy to share the inside track on what it was like to be in a senior role in the wirehouse as bureaucracy was on the rise, trust was on a decline and managing to the lowest common denominator became the new normal.
In his 20-year tenure with Merrill, Jim admits that he not only drank the Kool-Aid, he served some of it as well. But the big firm world that he worked in had become unrecognizable to him—and he could see first-hand that the changes were negatively impacting advisors, their businesses and their clients.
Then his curiosity about independence and desire to “build a better toolbox” won over, leading him to create Sanctuary Wealth Partners, an independent division of Noyes Group LLC.
In this episode, Jim openly discusses:
Why he left behind a 20-year career as a senior leader with Merrill Lynch to build an independent firm.
What his biggest frustrations and regrets are from his time in the wirehouse world.
What’s lacking in the wirehouse world and how that impacts an advisor’s ability to serve his clients.
How a culture of managing to profitability is driving advisors out of the wirehouses and on to independence and alternative models.
What he identifies as the best environment for advisors to grow and thrive in.
The ever-increasing shift to independence and shares an astute observation: The safety of the “big box” that the wirehouses once represented has since been replaced with a much smaller box that many advisors find they no longer fit.
It’s an intimate and intense conversation that you don’t want to miss.
