Large team leaves Lebenthal Wealth Advisors to start new RIA firm

A large team of advisers has left Lebenthal Wealth Advisors to start registered investment advisory firm YorkBridge Wealth Partners. Carrie Gallaway and Andrew Stern formed YorkBridge with offices in New York City and Bridgehampton, N.Y., taking a group of five former Lebenthal employees with them, according to a statement from Dynasty Financial Partners, which provides technology and other support services to wealth managers. YorkBridge, which oversees about $750 million in client assets, joined Dynasty's platform last week, said Sally Cates, a spokeswoman for Dynasty. Ms. Gallaway and Mr. Stern worked together at Morgan Stanley before joining Lebenthal in 2014. The group that left Lebenthal to join them include Jeffrey Lane, William Joseph, Barbara Doran, Leigh Moglia and Virginia Urdaneta. “With YorkBridge Wealth Partners, we have created a distinctive business model that capitalizes on advances in technology within financial services to assure access to some of the industry's leading products and resources,” Mr. Stern said in a statement. New York-based Lebenthal Wealth Advisors, which was created in 2013, disclosed about $941 million in total assets in its latest Form ADV filed June 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Alexandra Lebenthal, chief executive officer of Lebenthal Wealth Advisors, didn't immediately return a phone call and email seeking comment about the departures. Just two years ago, the firm was expanding at a good clip and projected it would have assets of $5 billion by the end of 2014. But the firm has been plagued with a steady turnover, including Frank L. Campanale, chairman and chief executive of Lebenthal's wealth unit. The parent company, Lebenthal Holdings, founded in 1925, is a boutique investment bank specializing in debt and equity capital markets.In 2001, it was sold for $25 million to The MONY Group Inc. and joined its Advest brokerage unit. In 2004, financial giant Axa SA acquired MONY, and in 2005 sold The Advest Group Inc., including Lebenthal, to Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Merrill didn't use the Lebenthal brand, which was sold back to the Lebenthal family in 2007 for $1,000.