The breakaway RIA platform said its new backing from Entwood Holdings allowed it to hire Gary Bonner from Avalon Advisors.
Breakaway RIA platform tru Independence has made a fresh C-suite hire, thanks to a newly-revealed deal with a private investment firm.
The Portland, Ore.-based outsourcing provider has hired Gary Bonner to serve as its chief operating officer. Bonner (pictured) most recently served in an identical position at Avalon Advisors, a $9bn RIA in Houston.
‘I am excited to join the tru community and look forward to leveraging my past experiences and expertise to support current and future client,’ said Bonner, who helmed Avalon’s human resources, technology, trading and finance departments.
Tru Independence competes with firms such as Dynasty Financial Partners and TruClarity to recruit advisors away from brokerage houses like Wells Fargo and JP Morgan. Advisors who work with tru Independence collectively manage $5.1bn.
The firm said it was able to hire Bonner thanks to financing from Entwood Holdings, a private investment firm helmed by asset management executive Jim Dilworth and RIA executive David Beatty. Entwood Holdings took a controlling stake in tru Independence in October of 2019 according to a Form ADV filed by Veriti Management, another firm backed by Entwood Holdings. Veriti is a developer of direct-indexed portfolios for financial advisors and institutions.
‘Entwood and tru’s leaders have known each other for decades, and believed bringing their shared values together could be invaluable to helping advisors serve their clients at the highest levels of excellence,’ Dilworth said.
Both tru Independence and Veriti Management sought forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans at the height of the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on markets, according to data from the Small Business Administration and company disclosures: tru Independence took out a $350k-$1m loan, according to the SBA, while Veriti Management said in its Form ADV it took out a roughly $135k loan.
Tru Independence said the partnership with Entwood allows it to ‘invest additional time, money and resources into the company infrastructure in order to enhance the existing core platform of exceptional services for advisors.’
‘This new partnership, in conjunction with the addition of key executives and other support staff, positions tru and the advisors with whom we work for tremendous success in the future,’ said Craig Stuvland, tru Independence’s chief executive. ‘We know creating this diverse organization with varying backgrounds is the best way to drive innovation and success for our clients.’
