The ramp-up continues at Thrivent Advisor Network, where Perspective Financial Services represents the 25th affiliate to join the back- and middle-office platform since it was established in 2019.
Phoenix-based Perspective brings $230 million to the platform, which has more than $5 billion in client assets through approximately 150 individual advisors.
Perspective, a 20-year-old registered investment advisory firm, is giving up its RIA to operate underneath the Thrivent RIA, which reflects the range of advisors joining the platform, said Carolyn Armitage, who joined as president two years ago.
“Advisors come to us from the RIA space, or they’re breakaway brokers, or they might be a [next generation] advisor looking for a new home,” Armitage said. “We provide all the elements of an RIA, including tech stack, compliance, cyber security, and we use Fidelity and Schwab as custodians.”
Thrivent Advisor Network, also known as TAN, was created as a spinoff of Thrivent Financial, which has a captive salesforce of 2,700 reps offering a blend of insurance products and wealth management services.
Armitage said TAN was created to give independent-minded advisors an alternative to Thrivent Financial. The platform launched with 21 teams moving over from the captive side of the business.
“It was part of the evolution of the industry, and some advisors had reached capacity for what Thrivent could offer them and they wanted more independence,” she said. “At Thrivent Advisor Network, we’re focused on helping independent wealth advisors run profitable and purposeful businesses, and we provide services that help advisors streamline their processes, focus on their clients and achieve meaningful growth.”
Armitage cited the Perspective move to TAN as an example of how the platform can benefit even independent advisors looking to take some of the back-office and business management responsibilities off their plate.
Perspective founder Mike McCann said he and his team of eight are entirely client facing and client focused, which is why they opted to join TAN.
“We conducted a deliberate and extensive search for a strategic alliance that could support our growing operations and technology needs,” he said. “More importantly, we also needed a partner firm that would align with our values and treasure the client experience in the same way we do.”
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