Oregon-based Lindsey Group and Trost Financial's Los Angeles team have combined forces within the $38 billion employee-owned Steward Partners. The two firms will merge to create the Lindsey-Trost Group of Steward Partners.
The addition of Trost and his staff will bring an additional $180 million in assets under management under Steward's leadership; when combined with Lindsey Group's total $532 million AUM, the newly formed firm will manage $712 million in combined client assets.
The merger of the two firms builds on a relationship between the principals that spans four decades, since Greg Trost attended college at the University of Oregon and met Doug Lindsey.
In an interview with WealthManagement.comTrost and Lindsey discussed their partnership and the benefits of merging their businesses.
Over the decades, Trost and Lindsey independently grew their books of business, with Lindsey joining Steward Partners in 2021. But in recent years, the pair began discussing the benefits of combining forces to create a firm that covers the length of the West Coast country, from Trost to Century City, Calif., to Lindsey on Lake Oswego, outside Portland, Ore.
“I think the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts when it's all done,” Lindsey said.
According to Trost, a major benefit was joining a family-focused firm like Lindsey's operation, which includes Douglas' sons Justin and Collin as partners and wealth managers. While Trost stressed that neither he nor Lindsey had any immediate plans to retire, he took comfort in the knowledge that the future of his firm and his clients were in good hands.
The new firm will also include Trost alum Michael Mora as partner and wealth manager, Melissa Kiser as partner and registered client administrative manager, and Katie Scott, who will assume the roles of partner, vice president and client administrative manager .
Trost and Lindsey have clients throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. Lindsey said it would make it easier for both firms to meet in person with some clients they would normally talk to remotely.
Trost said the two firms' different strengths will complement each other. Trost tends to focus on fee-based planning, while Lindsey's firm develops investment portfolio strategies for its clients. Other specialties are now in house, with Trost noting that he previously needed to schedule regular consultations with CFAs. With Justin Lindsey's help, he can keep this business request within the firm's walls.
“This is really powerful,” he said. “And clients want to refer (us). They want more people to get what they're getting.”
Eric Field, Steward Partners' division president for the west, said the firm hoped to continue building its presence in the region, including in San Francisco and Arizona, among other areas. Lindsey found that everyone from partners to their assistants took advantage of Steward equity as a major selling point.
“It's a great structure and very well put together,” he said. “It's interesting how things come together.”
Last month, Steward won Mainstay Wealth Managementa NJ-based team of four advisors with over $850 million in assets under management who joined from Ameriprise.