Former Merrill Wealth Head Launching New RIA Indivisible Partners

John Thiel, the former head of Merrill Lynch’s wealth management division, has recruited a highly experienced team to support the planned launch of Indivisible Partners, a privately owned and independent RIA based in Clearwater, FL.

Thiel announced the formation of Indivisible Partners, with nine other co-founders, most of whom also held previous leadership roles at Merrill, and who now form the new RIA’s executive team. In a post on LinkedIn, Thiel, who will serve as the firm’s executive chairman, said the new RIA, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2025 pending regulatory approval, is being established to provide advisors support and resources from a network of seasoned advisors, including “the ability to both own 100% of their business and gain equity ownership in a broader partnership of advisors.” 

According to Indivisible’s initial Form ADV filing, dated November 4, former Merrill COO John Hogarty will serve under the same title at the new firm. He is joined by former Merrill managing director for the investment solutions group Stephen Hostetler, who will serve as chief compliance officer and secretary.

Former Fidelity head of corporate financial planning and analysis Thomas Corra, who more recently served as a partner with Convergency Partners, will join as CFO. Paul Lambert, a division executive for Merrill who was with the firm for over 30 years and more recently served as a managing director for strategy and business development at the Bates Group, will serve as co-president of advisor teams alongside William Lorenz, who joins with over 40 years of experience at Bank of America, and Thomas Fickinger, spent over 30 years as a divisional market executive with Merrill and most recently was head of wealth advisory for Silicon Valley Bank. 

Rounding out the team are former Merrill wealth management COO Michael Adornetto, most recently an advisor in residence for EY Financial Services, as head of operations and service, and former American Century head of enterprise strategic relationships Peter Ciezko, who will head up investment solutions. Alok Kapoor, a managing director with Merrill until 2009 and later an executive with Fidelity Investments before retiring in 2020, joins as CTO. 

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7259200674981146624/