Wellington-Altus Holdings Inc. Reaches Agreement to Purchase TriVest Wealth Counsel Ltd.

WINNIPEG, Dec. 10, 2019 /CNW/ - Wellington-Altus Holdings Inc. ("Wellington-Altus"), parent company to Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary Wellington-Altus Private Counsel Inc. ("Private Counsel"), announced today that it has reached an agreement to purchase Calgary-based TriVest Wealth Counsel Ltd. ("TriVest"). 

The purchase of TriVest will act as the genesis of Private Counsel, Wellington-Altus' fourth business line, a subsidiary focusing on the Investment Counsel Portfolio Manager ("ICPM") side of the Canadian Wealth Management industry.

"We have been studying this business for over a year now," said Wellington-Altus President Shaun Hauser.

"While the regulatory regime in this business is different than what we see in our IIROC business, the needs of Portfolio Managers ("PMs")—who are typically also the business owners—are the same. PMs and Investment Advisors are moving more towards providing comprehensive wealth management advice. Portfolio returns are an essential part of delivering client peace of mind, but clearly not the only thing clients are expecting from their PMs nowadays," Hauser added.

"In getting to know the team at Wellington-Altus, they had exactly what we were looking for," TriVest Co-Founder, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager Martin Pelletier noted.

"For us, it was about having a like-minded partner to help support our growth plans, while at the same time ultimately taking away some of the burdensome parts of running an ICPM business and allowing us to focus more time with our clients and prospects, resulting in growing our business at a healthier clip moving forward. We feel like we are getting our cake and eating it too," adds Pelletier.

The creation of Private Counsel also introduces a new way of growing for Wellington-Altus. TriVest presently has a custodial relationship with Fidelity Clearing Canada—a different custodian than what Wellington-Altus uses for its IIROC business line, which is National Bank Independent Network ("NBIN").

"For now, we are taking an agnostic approach towards our back-office custodians in this business line.  We have a great relationship with our partners at NBIN that we intend to grow, but at the same time, we are interested to understand what all the custodians are capable of," Hauser shared.

Upon the deal closing, Martin Pelletier will become the managing director of the Private Counsel business for Wellington-Altus.

"We feel pretty lucky to have attracted great people in Martin Pelletier and Craig Stanford at TriVest," said Hauser.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.

About Wellington-Altus Holdings Inc.:

Founded in 2017, Wellington-Altus Holdings Inc. (Wellington-Altus) is the parent company to one of the fastest-growing wealth advisory companies in Canada. With approximately $8.5 billion in assets under administration, and offices across the country, Wellington-Altus identifies with larger, independently focused investment advisors & portfolio managers and their private clients.

SOURCE Wellington-Altus Holdings Inc.

Media contact: Danielle Nichol, Vice-President, Marketing, [email protected], 416-369-6215