Sage Financial Advisors acquired

Brian Loy, president and founder of Sage Financial Advisors, has spent more than 40 years helping Northern Nevada clients and businesses grow their wealth.

Starting next year, Loy’s modest three-person team will be able tap into a wealth of new resources as it helps its stable of 240 clients with financial planning, investment and risk management, and corporate retirement planning.

Wealthspire Advisors LLC of New York City announced at the end of November that it had acquired Sage Financial Advisors as part of its West Coast expansion plans. In 2021 Wealthspire acquired Private Ocean LLC of San Rafael, Calif. Private Ocean also had offices in San Francisco and Seattle. With the acquisition of Sage Financial Advisors, Wealthspire oversees nearly $17 billion in assets across 20 offices, the company reports.

Sage’s Loy told NNBW the purpose of the acquisition was twofold: It provides a clear succession plan for his eventual retirement – he’s 65 – and it brings additional technology tools and resources that will help his team better serve its clients.

“As a business owner, there are two big things I face, ‘How do I continue to be innovative and improve, and how do I work on a succession plan?’ This is a natural feed from both of those things,” he said.

Loy called the acquisition the single biggest decision he’s made in his decades-long career. Earlier this year he engaged consulting firm DeVoe & Co. of San Francisco to help him find an investment services firm looking to expand its footprint. DeVoe & Co. provided a list of 12 names, and Loy visited executives of four firms as he sought the best fit.

Brian Loy

 

Wealthspire won out, Loy said, because it allowed Sage Financial Advisors to retain its autonomy and relationships with its current client base while providing access to growth and innovation.

“In the future, there will be two types of investment firms: small mom and pop independent RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors) like us, and the larger firms,” he said. “By partnering up with the right team, we can still be a great local resource working for local clients. This was just a natural fit.

“This is a leading-edge firm that provides greater resources and tools for financial planning and a much broader bench of talent,” Loy added.

For example, Sage Financial Advisors is a team of three: Loy; Investment and Client Relations Director Kirstin Griffin; and Junior Analyst Mary Stammers. Wealthspire has an investment specialist team that runs 15 deep, Loy said.

“It adds a lot of opportunity for us to leverage,” he added.

It also frees the Sage team to spend more time working with its clients, Loy noted, since Wealthspire also brings additional back office resources, such as accounting, finance and compliance.

Loy’s title will change to senior vice president, while longtime associate Griffin will be a vice president for Wealthspire Advisors. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, and Sage Financial Advisors will be rebranded as Wealthspire Advisors in the first half of 2023.

Loy said his clients have been receptive to the proposed change.

“Conversations with clients have been heartwarming,” he said. “This transaction requires client consent – our clients have management agreements with Sage, and our merger with Wealthspire requires our clients to assign those agreements to the new firm. We’ve been calling clients, and there are two common themes in those conversations.

“First, they say we trust you to advise what’s best for us. The second theme is they want us to continue to serve as their advisors. They don’t want to be shoveled off to someone else. Our goals for the coming year include making the transition, exploring the new resources and where to apply them to enhance client services, then building out Reno and the region to help expand Wealthspire on the West Coast.”

Loy founded Sage Financial Advisors in 1996. Half of the firm’s clients have been with Sage for a decade or longer, he said, and one in four has been with Sage for 20 years or longer. Putting a succession plan in place has brought a huge amount of relief, he added.

“I worry less now about having a good place for our clients and our team,” Loy said. “I am excited about what we can help our clients do. I also can now find a personal financial advisor for the Loy household.”