Virginia-based firm looking to add more wirehouse advisers; founder touts adviser transition program
Washington Wealth Management LLC, an independent RIA firm launched in December, has hired veteran wirehouse branch manager John Simmons to serve as president and to open up a West Coast office for the Middleburg, Va.- based firm.
Mr. Simmons formerly served as regional director for Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. He has also held sales and management positions at Prudential Securities Inc., Wachovia Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., where he worked for six years in the Washington, D.C., office.
“[Mr. Simmons] is going to play a critical role in the firm's expansion, and his deep knowledge and experience will be a great resource for guiding our advisers on a day-to-day basis,” Tony Sirianni, founder and chief executive of WWM, said in a press release.
So far, the firm has just two teams of advisers, both located in Virginia. When Mr. Sirianni launched the firm, he simultaneously signed on a three adviser team managing nearly $200 million out of the firm's headquarters. He opened a branch in Richmond, Va., in March with the hiring of E. Lee Pinney Jr., a $1 million-plus producer at regional broker and investment bank Scott & Stringfellow LLC.
Washington Wealth Management is taking aim at wirehouse advisers and the high-net-worth clients they serve. “Our goal is to create an independent-branch network, allowing advisers to own their own businesses but also to allow them to become part of an organization and culture that values and encourages collaboration and idea sharing,” Mr. Sirianni said in the firm's first press release in December. “Unlike what's happening in the wirehouses today, what's important to us is the relationship with the client.”
It's also important that Mr. Simmons attract some big wirehouse producers to the new California office. “In my experience, the advisers operating within the traditional wirehouse model would much prefer the opportunity to work independently, but too often the high costs of transitioning and managing their own business are too high,” Mr. Simmons said in the release.
WWM said its adviser transition program covers “most of the costs” and eliminates “many of the hassles” of going independent. The firm offers a payout of 70% of production to advisers. For the 30%, WWM handles the office and equipment needs of advisers, the compliance requirements of their practice, and it offers access to an expansive platform of products. It is also willing to lend money to advisers who may have to pay back loans to their former firms. "This is for advisers who appreciate the idea of true independence," said Mr. Sirianni. "We enable them to concentrate on what they do best--take care of their clients."
