Former Merrill Lynch Firm With $400 Million in Assets Joins Sanctuary Wealth
Independent broker-dealer Sanctuary Wealth announced that it has added TOVA Wealth, a former Merrill Lynch practice based in Wilmington, N.C., with more than $400 million in client assets.
The firm is led by its founder and managing partner, Katie Medina, CFP, CRPC. Also on the team are advisers Michael Tunney and Eric Starkey, CFP, CRPC, and client associate Amy Kepler. According to Sanctuary, TOVA offers flexibility to its clients and is committed to making personalized financial planning accessible to everyone. The team is singularly focused on the financial well-being of those they serve and on empowering their success.
“After enjoying years of hard work building our practice at our former firm, I hardly recognize the institution it has become, and we needed to make a change for our team and clients,” Medina said. “Deciding to move forward with our own firm is a consequential decision and is not something we take lightly.”
Before starting her career at Merrill Lynch in 2008, Medina was a Peace Corps volunteer. Since 2019, Medina has volunteered with the CFP board and is currently on its examination council.
“Sanctuary’s experience, tools, resources, and support made this complicated decision to start fresh easy,” Medina added. “The network is multi-custodial, which was essential to us, and they have the experience of supporting the transition of practices like ours to independence without missing a beat.”
“We are excited to welcome Katie and the TOVA Wealth team to our platform,” said Adam Malamed, chief executive officer of Sanctuary Wealth. “Over the past several years, we have been diligently building the infrastructure and services that provide groups like theirs with the freedom, flexibility, control, and choice to build on their previous success and thrive in the evolving wealth management landscape.”
The addition of TOVA follows closely on Sanctuary’s acquisition of tru Independence, a Portland, Ore.-based enterprise managing $12.5 billion in client assets. Also, as previously reported by AltsWire, Sanctuary has recently added multiple industry veterans to its team, including Robert Coppola as chief technology officer, Michael Goldfader as its new West Coast regional managing director, and Michelle McIntyre as national business development officer.
Sanctuary Wealth supports advisers to build and own their own practices and deliver tailored service to clients. Currently, the network includes more than 120 partner firms in 30 states across the country with approximately $42 billion in assets on platform. Sanctuary Wealth consists of the wholly owned subsidiaries: tru Independence and Sanctuary Advisors LLC, SEC-RIAs; Sanctuary Securities Inc., a FINRA member broker-dealer; as well as Sanctuary Alternative Holdings, Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global, and Sanctuary Global Family Office.
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