Former MSSB Advisers Start Independent Firm

Eric Thurber, Fred Molfino, and Brett Sharkey will serve as managing directors of the independent advisory firm, which offers wealth planning to high-net-worth individuals and families. The company said it will have an “emerging focus on retirement plan services,” specializing in defined contribution and defined benefit plans.

The principals of Three Bridge previously represented The Venture Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, advising on more than $740 million in assets for the venture capital and private equity communities in and around Silicon Valley, according to an announcement from Three Bridge.
 
“The independent structure is the best way we know to serve the unique investment needs of our extraordinary clients,” said Molfino. “As a boutique firm, Three Bridge is in a position to provide a level of service that’s simply not attainable at a larger wirehouse brokerage.”
 
While the team has specialized in providing institutional services to venture capital and private equity firms, it has expanded its practice over time to include personal wealth management services to individuals and retirement plan services, the firm said.
 
Three Bridge has chosen Charles Schwab & Co. as its custodian. 

While most wirehouse advisers are staying put, industry research has noted the trend of advisers going independent. The latest research from Cerulli Associates showed that wirehouses are losing advisers more than most other channels of advisory firms (see “Wirehouses Feel Some Threat of Independents”).