New Breakaway Firm Helps $650M Morgan Stanley Team Go Independent

A former Morgan Stanley team that managed $650 million in client assets has gone independent, with help from a new consulting firm that aims to lift out wirehouse advisors.

The advisors, Derrick Clouser, Walter Urban, Matthew Presjak, Colin Williams and Mary Minshall, left Morgan to start Encompass Wealth Advisors of Portland, Ore., according to a statement from the firm.

The team consists of several seasoned veterans, including senior member Urban, who boasts 32 years in the securities industry, according to FINRA Records.

Encompass Wealth Advisors worked with a new consulting firm, tru Independence, which used the launch to kick off its own business, aimed at wirehouse adviors transitioning to the independent space.

The consulting firm, comprised of Craig Stuvland, Eric Warlick and Jay Penn, hopes to recruit about 20 teams of advisors managing between $300 million and $1 billion in client assets in the next five years. "We're looking at firms that have really a leverage-able model that we can help grow," says Stuvland, the firm's CEO and president.

Prior to launching tru Independence, Warlick and Penn spent nearly two decades transitioning wirehouse advisors into the independent space.

Advisors starting their own firms using tru as a consultant maintain full ownership of their brand, equity and business. A percentage of revenue goes to tru as payment for its services.

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