Diversify Advisor Network, a $7 billion Utah-based wealth management firm consisting of two corporate RIAs, a broker/dealer and an alternatives-focused asset management division, has launched a new program aimed at retirement plan advisory services.
The program leverages the expertise of Todd Nuttall and David Gardner, who merged their firm Caliber Wealth Management into Diversify earlier this year. According to a company statement, Diversify’s advisors aim to assist their business-owner clients who are responsible for 401(k) and other qualified plans. The advisors can then help plan participants with more than just their 401(k).
"Our advisors serve the wealth management needs of high-net-worth clients, including business owners who are responsible for their company’s retirement plan," said Stuart Matheson, Diversify’s chief strategy officer, in a statement. "When Caliber joined Diversify earlier this year, we were very excited about the platform they had built for retirement services and saw tremendous potential benefits for all our advisors, many of whom have plans already in their book that they aren't servicing the way they want, or have passed on becoming the advisor for retirement plans along the way."
Nuttall added he was looking forward to sharing Caliber’s knowledge with the rest of the network.
Following a reorganization last year, Diversify now includes a new W-2 division that sits alongside Diversify’s legacy broker/dealer—still DFPG Investments—and an independent registered investment advisory affiliate platform called Diversify Advisory Services. The reorganization was intended to provide more affiliation options and a clear succession path for independent advisors who may be conflicted about joining a large acquirer or selling to a private equity firm, according to Diversify Advisor Network CEO Ryan Smith.
“At Diversify, we’ve successfully built a multi-chassis affiliation model with a boutique culture and institutional-quality resources to help our advisors scale their businesses,” Matheson said. “Diversify's Retirement Plan Advisory Services is just the latest of our expanding suite of value-added offerings for our advisors. We are committed to continually investing in our capabilities to ensure our advisors have all they require to serve the sophisticated needs of their high-net-worth clients.”
Included in the retirement plan advisory program are services for plan design and governance, fiduciary services, participant education and personal financial planning, investment policy statement creation and review, vendor search and monitoring, audit support and performance reporting.
In March, Diversify also expanded its investment management capabilities to include more than a dozen fee-based alternative strategies, including structured notes, interval funds and private placements. It offers a comparable number of globally diversified passive strategies and five internal separately managed accounts—three equity and two fixed-income strategies. There are also 23 third-party SMAs, traded in-house, and nine unified managed accounts built from the various SMAs.