Bolton opens NYC office on Fifth Avenue

Bolton Global Capital is set to launch a new midtown Manhattan office as it plans to recruit at least three more teams in New York City by the end of 2018.

The Bolton, Massachusetts-headquartered independent broker-dealer will open an office at 489 Fifth Avenue in September to attract more wealth management teams in the New York City area to its independent broker network, the firm said in a statement.

The firm currently has two teams in New York City with $500 million in client assets. AiM Fidelis Wealth Solutions, made up of duo Michael Dejana and Adelfa Rosario, will move into Bolton’s new office while Ruben Lerner and Manuel Uranga’s A Plus Capital team will remain at their current location on Madison Avenue.

The office can likely fit up to nine teams and the firm’s chief executive Ray Grenier told Citywire Americas he expected at least three more teams to join in 2018.

Bolton initially entered New York in June 2017 with the hire of a former HSBC private banker, Ethan Assouline. However, Citywire Americas understands that the advisor split from Bolton in October 2017 after not being able to meet the firm’s revenue and AUM standards.

Bolton provides office space, technology infrastructure, brand development and legal support for bank and wirehouse teams that are looking to go independent while acquiring ownership and operating under their own brand name.

In its statement the firm said it expects to replicate the strategy it employed in Miami, where it has recruited more than 20 teams with $3.5 billion in client assets from Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and Citi over the last five years.

The firm has capitalized on recruiting from wirehouses over the last three years specifically, as firms like Merrill Lynch increased account minimums and cut access to a number of countries.

Grenier told Citywire Americas in May that he was aiming to boost the group’s AUM to $10 billion in the next two years. The firm currently has just under $8 billion in client assets, of which about $5 billion is made up by non-US residents.