Fairport Asset Management bids adieu to CEO and CIO

Fairport Asset Management, one of the largest affiliates of registered investment adviser consolidator WealthTrust LLC, said its chief executive and chief investment officers are leaving the firm. Scott Roulston, whose father in 1963 founded a predecessor firm to Fairport, said he is leaving as a result of strategic differences with the parent company. “I didn't see the future the same way as the folks at WealthTrust,” said Mr. Roulston, 52, who has been head of the RIA since 1990. WealthTrust, which bought interests in Fairport in 2006 and 2007, owns at least 75% of the firm's equity, according to a March filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rush “Rusty” Benton, chief executive of WealthTrust, didn't return a call seeking comment. Mr. Roulston said that he will officially leave at the end of this month, though Fairport said last Friday that he has left the firm. The firm also told clients last week that Greg Althans, its chief investment officer, will leave this summer. Mr. Althans, who will be involved with a new venture, didn't return calls seeking comment. The departures are unrelated, according to Fairport chairman Paul Abbey. “We are very sad to see two partners of the firm leaving,” he said. He credited Mr. Roulston with playing a vital role in the WealthTrust transition as well as with acquiring and integrating some smaller firms. Mr. Abbey said that Mr. Althans was eager to get involved with a new challenge. Both men are believed to have signed non-compete agreements. Mr. Abbey referred questions about the agreements and about Mr. Roulston's comments to Mr. Benton. Fairport's remaining six partners will assume some of the executive and client-relationship functions of Mr. Roulston and Mr. Althans. Mr. Abbey, for example, said he is resuming the chief investment officer role that he handed to Mr. Althans several years ago. Mr. Roulston said his departure is unrelated to Fairport's health. The RIA attracted a record amount of new business in this year's first quarter and is on target for a record year of profit, he said. A director of Developers Diversified Realty, a “big box” shopping center real estate investment trust, Mr. Roulston said that he will spend more time on his corporate board and non-profit interests while considering his long-term future. “I'm really proud of what we built, but it's time for me to look forward,” he said. Fairport was formed in 2001 when Roulston & Co. merged with The Hickory Group, an advisory firm that Mr. Abbey founded in 1988. It oversees about $813 million of client assets in 1,125 accounts, according to its recent regulatory filing.