Thane Stenner, director for wealth management at StennerZohny Investment Partners, part of Toronto-based Richardson GMP Ltd.Amanda Palmer/The Globe and Mail
StennerZohny Investment Partners, a Vancouver-based boutique advisory firm for ultrahigh net worth investors, is expected to announce as early as Friday that it's joining the Graystone Consulting group of Morgan Stanley International, based in Palo Alto, California.
The deal sees StennerZohny sever its long-standing partnership with Richardson GMP, but both groups are expected to continue to work together under the new arrangement. The transition is said to be amicable between parties, according to people familiar with the matter.
StennerZohny, founded by Thane Stenner and Youssef Zohny, had been approached by at least three Canadian bank-owned wealth management firms over the past five years, according to a source who requested anonymity. It was also approached by Morgan Stanley and then Graystone about two years ago. Discussions started in earnest about 18 months ago. StennerZohny is said to have been attracted largely to Morgan Stanley's broad global platform and exclusive investment opportunities for its clients.
Its new name will be the StennerZohny Group of Graystone Consulting at Morgan Stanley and will become the 58th accredited Graystone Consulting team out of 16,000 Morgan Stanley advisers worldwide and the only Canadian-led Graystone Consulting group within Morgan Stanley with a Canadian and U.S. cross-border focus.
About half of the StennerZohny team, including Messrs. Stenner and Zohny, will be moving to California as part of the arrangement. Mr. Stenner will become managing director of the group, while Mr. Zohny will be senior vice-president. Both will also be portfolio managers and institutional consulting directors.
Associate Simon Jochlin is also moving to California from Vancouver and will become the group's international country market specialist. StennerZohny will continue to maintain part of its team in Vancouver.
The team currently works with individual investors, families and family offices with investable assets of more than $10-million and institutions and foundations with investable assets of more than $25-million. The net worth of its North American clients typically ranges between $20-million and $3-billion.
StennerZohny has about 60 clients across Canada, the U.S. and internationally who will be invited to join them under the Morgan Stanley banner.
Special to The Globe and Mail