Page 31 - Investment Advisor October 2022

lance, enabling advisors to provide clients with the
same level of service on held away accounts as “Since 2010, when Dynasty
custodied accounts.” was founded by CEO
The advantage for advisors is they can
increase their revenue while providing a com- Shirl Penney, assets in
prehensive financial picture via the addition
of retirement plan accounts, the companies employer-sponsored
added. Dynasty will handle the operational ele- retirement accounts have
ments of Pontera’s services for advisory firms
within its network, including billing and performance more than doubled from $4.9
reporting integration, “allowing them to focus on delivering trillion to over $11 trillion.”
best-in-class client services,” the firms said.

What’s Next?
Looking at where the industry is headed, Focus Financial CEO solid fiduciary advice,” he explained in a recent interview.
Rudy Adolf, says it’s broad “megatrends [that] really drive this Why is the firm he leads, along with the overall industry,
industry.” Plus, the industry is “really made for times like weathering the current market storm extremely well? “It’s
these, meaning really complex, tough times, [whether it] was really a reflection of the quality of the relationships our part-
COVID in 2020 or now the current volatility, inflation, rising ners have and the quality of our partner firms. And [it’s at a]
interest rates, increase in taxes, and all of these things that are time where advice like what we do is just essential for wealthy
happening as we speak. They really put a premium [on] rock- clients and families,” Adolf said.

The new firm’s team of former rivals “deliver a tailored launch of Fidelis Capital, we are on a mission to revive the
suite of services to each client, providing access to experts in access to a team of experts and give ultra-high-net-worth
areas such as investment and specialty asset management, families, institutions, and other private banking clients the
business transition advisory services, wealth, estate, and tax kind of team that can manage not some, but all of their finan-
planning, personal risk management, bill pay and reporting, cial matters, giving them back what money can’t buy — time!”
and fiduciary lending services,” Fidelis Capital said. The Dallas team includes an asset management team made
Explaining why the one-time rivals decided to join forces up of brothers Ellis and Matthew Ellis, both founding partners,
and start Fidelis Capital now specifically, Fidelis Capital CEO and relationship manager Libby Castle. Before founding Fidelis
Rick Simonetti said: “A few years ago, the private banking Capital, Neale Ellis was a managing director and senior portfolio
model started changing and decentralizing resources; they manager at Bank of America Private Bank, where he helped
still offered access to specialists, but these specialists were found and co-manage the Private Bank Managed Active Core
no longer local, or they were phased out.” portfolio, according to Fidelis Capital. He started his finan-
It is “our aim to revive the client experience and surround cial career in 2000 with Goldman Sachs as a Private Wealth
our clients with a group of specialists that are experts in key Management advisor, according to his LinkedIn profile. Earlier,
areas of financial planning and that know the clients person- he spent 12 years as a surface warfare officer with the U.S. Navy.
ally,” he added. Matthew Ellis has 24 years of experience in the financial indus-
Simonetti spent 22 years as senior managing director of the try, most recently serving as managing director at Wells Fargo
Southern region, as well as national head of wealth planning Private Bank. His experience also includes time with Goldman
at Wells Fargo Private Wealth Management. He started his Sachs, Smith Barney and Bank of America/US Trust after starting
career in 1988 at Deloitte as a senior tax specialist and spent his career as a naval flight officer with the U.S. Navy.
11 years there, and then joined Wells Fargo, where he spent The advisor team at the Tampa office is led by Matthew
22 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Michaels, a 25-year financial services professional who was
“In the past few years, the private banking model has a portfolio manager at Wells Fargo, and Paul Ayotte, who has
changed drastically,” according to Neale Ellis, Fidelis Capital over 24 years of experience, most recently 18 years at Wells
founding partner & co-chief investment officer. “With the Fargo Private Bank as a wealth advisor. —Jeff Berman

OCTOBER 2022 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 29