Edwardsville, IL – Visionary Wealth Advisors announced today their first expansion outside the greater St. Louis area. The firm, founded in March 2014, by Brett Gilliland of Edwardsville and Tim Hammett of Fenton, Missouri, added Miami advisors, Chuck Downs and Ricardo Ludert, both of whom have long-established practices in South Florida. Downs and Ludert were Managing Directors at Northwestern Mutual offices in Miami and Coral Gables respectively, and had recently partnered to form an independent firm, when they made the decision to join Visionary.
Chuck Downs, CFP
“We wanted the ability to be more independent, and more objective with the type of planning and services we bring to our clients,” said Downs. “I’ve known Brett for years and we were both in the same stages of wanting to be independent of a large corporation. We had a very similar vision and goals for the type of firm we wanted to open. When Brett and Tim founded Visionary, Ricardo and I realized we’d just be duplicating their efforts if we started our own firm. It became clear that we’d be stronger as collaborators rather than competitors.”
As an RIA firm, Visionary has no proprietary funds and therefore is able to provide unbiased financial advice. RIAs operate on a fee structure, based on assets under management, creating the incentive to provide advice purely in the client’s best interest.
Ricardo Ludert
Visionary launched with the ambitious goal of going national within one year, and doing so by hiring exceptionally qualified advisors, and acquiring or merging with firms that share the same mission, vision and values of integrity and client service. Miami is Visionary’s first expansion outside the St. Louis area, and it’s the firm’s second major addition. Earlier this month, Visionary added Meridian Financial Advisors, a well-established Edwardsville firm founded by Scott Carson, that had served high net worth clients in the area for 15 years.
At the same time, Visionary and First Clover Leaf Bank formed an affiliation to provide financial planning and wealth management services at the bank’s branches under the name First Clover Leaf Wealth Management.
Since founding five months ago with six advisors on the Leadership Team, the firm has now grown to 26 advisors with the opening of the Miami office.
Visionary Wealth Advisors has invested heavily in infrastructure to recruit and support advisors, who can in turn, provide innovative financial opportunities for their clients. Gilliland and Hammett invest $125,000 per year in software alone, and have a highly educated and experienced support staff to help advisors manage their practices.
In addition to the RIA platform and infrastructure, part of the appeal of Visionary to both clients and advisors is the values and culture Gilliland and Hammett establish for the firm. The core values of faith, integrity, excellence, growth and community, as well as a supportive, collaborative work environment and a client-first focus are the foundation of the Visionary brand. With the opening of the Miami office, Gilliland will travel there frequently to develop that team in creating the same culture.
“Expanding outside of Edwardsville and St. Louis was part of our long-term vision,” Gilliland said. “I am absolutely excited about it, and I would not have believed it could happen in just five months. We see the state of Florida as a major growth opportunity and want to add Wealth Management Advisors in more communities.”
Visionary Wealth Advisors is an independent Registered Investment Advisor, founded in March 2014 by Brett Gilliland and Tim Hammett. Visionary Wealth Advisors provides a visionary approach to all aspects of financial planning and wealth management including retirement, college and estate planning, life, disability insurance and small business retirement plans. Visionary Wealth Advisors is based in the St. Louis area, with the home office located in Edwardsville, Illinois.
For more information, visit visionarywealthadvisors.com.
Contact:
Kate Allaria, MBA
Chief Marketing Officer
618-659-5166
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