Miami-based Trivest Partners backs Sonance Financial, which serves more than 1,400 families
Four founder-led advisory firms keep their own service models and client relationships under Sonance Financial Inc., a Canadian wealth partnership that launched on October 20 with more than 1,400 families and approximately $2.3bn in combined assets under management.
The founding partners are Advantage Financial Services in Lethbridge, Alberta, SONA Wealth Counsel in Ottawa, JV Financial in Edmonton, and Transition Financial Advisors Group in Arizona
The company’s release said their combined expertise covers retirement, estate and tax planning, fiduciary investment advice, and Canada-US financial planning.
Sonance has 21 client-facing employees, including registered advisors, serving 1,400 business owners, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth clients, chief executive officer Danielle Skipp told The Globe and Mail.
She declined to tell the paper how much Trivest Partners invested.
The Globe and Mail reported the Toronto-based firm will operate as a registered portfolio manager under a fiduciary standard, which it described as the closest Canadian equivalent to the registered investment adviser model used in the United States, and that the business traces to an approach Trivest made to Advantage founder Ryan Peterson two years ago.
In the release, Skipp said Sonance Financial was formed “to build around the strengths of existing independent advisory firms.”
Toronto-based Skipp added that the firm supplies “the resources and expertise required” for those firms to operate in the current market, according to the release.
Sonance Financial Inc. provides non-registrable services and is not registered as a dealer or adviser under Canadian securities laws, according to the release.
Portfolio management in Canada is offered through Sonance Wealth Partners Ltd., a portfolio manager registered in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Québec.
Portfolio management in the United States, and in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, is offered through Transition Financial Advisors Group, LLC.
Trivest Partners backs the firm. The Miami-headquartered private investment firm, which also has a presence in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, manages approximately US$6bn and focuses exclusively on founder-led and family-owned businesses across North America.
Trivest Partners LP is the controlling shareholder of Sonance Financial, according to The Globe and Mail.
In the release, Peterson, founder of Advantage Financial Services in Lethbridge, said the group “founded Sonance to gain more operational control.”
He said the firms designed and implemented their own technology, and that joining the national group leaves their service model, client relationships, and portfolio management approach unchanged.
Thomas Ryan, founder of SONA Wealth Counsel in Ottawa, said in the release that clients “now get access to more like-minded professionals, including specialists in cross-border tax and estate planning, and a firm with the strength to be here for them and the next generation.”
Brian Wruk, president of Transition Financial Advisors Group, wrote in a LinkedIn post reported by Investment Executive that each firm keeps its identity “while contributing its strengths to something bigger.”
He wrote: “For our clients, this means access to additional technical, tax and investment expertise on both sides of the border.”
