Elevation Point, an investment firm launched last month by former Sanctuary Wealth CEO Jim Dickson, has added two UBS executives as founding partners. Bradford Smithy and Robert B. Tamarkin joined the firm, which aims to take stakes in RIAs with $200 million to $3 billion in client assets and help accelerate their growth by providing a suite of services and support.
Smithy and Tamarkin will serve as members of Elevation Point’s executive committee and focus on partnership development and Elevation’s growth and expansion efforts. That will include working to identify partnership opportunities, helping set the overall strategic vision for Elevation Point and talent acquisition.
“We are building an offering with the appropriate resources needed for advisors to grow—and grow fast,” Smithy said. “Whether it’s platform resources, technology, or the ability to find experts across the universe of financial needs—such as tax planning, estate planning, investments or other services— our offering will enable advisors to easily identity ‘best-in-class’ solutions when they are taking clients through a financial planning process.”
In an interview with Wealthmanagement.com, Smithy and Tamarkin both said they were excited to pivot to the independent arena after spending their careers up to now as wirehouse advisors. They also said they saw their moves as part of the trend of growing independence within the broader advisor universe.
“We are coming from a world where there is a closed architecture to one where it’s truly open,” Smithy said.
They added that in the month since Elevation Point’s launch, they have already had a number of conversations with RIAs and teams at some wirehouses about potential partnerships and said announcements on tie-ups could be forthcoming after Labor Day.
In terms of vetting opportunities, Tamarkin stressed that while Elevation Point considers teams with AUMs between $200 million and $3 billion, factors such as how well teams fit with the firm's culture are also important.
“It’s all about the quality of advisor and not just the quantity,” Tamarkin said. “If someone is growing fast earlier in their career, we are not tied to the number. We are looking to attract advisors who aspire to grow and who have clients at the core of their business.”
Tamarkin, who worked alongside Dickson when both were at Merrill Lynch, said the two began talking about the potential move about a year ago.
“It just felt like an offering and an opportunity that just makes sense for clients and financial advisors,” Tamarkin said. “It led me to where we currently are. And I couldn’t be more optimistic for what we’re bringing to the marketplace.”
"I've worked alongside and later competed against both Brad and Robert for many years,” Dickson, Elevation Point’s CEO, said in a statement. “They are held in the highest regard as leaders in our industry. Throughout their careers, they've consistently excelled in building deep relationships and trust with the financial advisors they serve, which aligns perfectly with Elevation Point's core values. They also understand the need to remove roadblocks so advisors can deliver personalized advice and innovative client experiences. They have earned stellar reputations for consistently guiding advisors and staying ahead of industry shifts."
Smithy brings more than 30 years of experience to Elevation. Before joining the firm, he spent more than 15 years at UBS, holding leadership roles, including divisional director. In this capacity, he oversaw more than 1,900 financial advisors responsible for managing nearly $500 billion in assets under management. Previously, Smithy spent more than 15 years at Merrill Lynch in various roles, including financial advisor, complex sales manager, district sales manager and complex director.
Tamarkin spent nearly 20 years at UBS, where he most recently served as the market director for the Southeast market, leading the firm’s wealth management offices in Atlanta and across Georgia. Previously, he managed offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Prior to that, he served as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch for more than a decade.
Dickson’s launch of Elevation Point last month came a little more than a year after he was abruptly replaced at Sanctuary as CEO by Adam Malamed, a former Ladenburg Thalmann executive and member of Sanctuary’s board of directors.
In conjunction with the launch, Elevation Point agreed to acquire Mount Yale Capital Group, an RIA and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer with $3.4 billion in assets under management.
