Key Takeaways
- • Sonance Financial Inc., a Toronto-based wealth manager, has launched with $2.3 billion in client assets under management, formed by consolidating four independent advisory firms and financed by U.S. private equity.
- • Miami-based Trivest Partners LP is the controlling shareholder; Danielle Skipp, a former Nicola Wealth Management managing director for Ontario, is CEO.
- • The firm will operate as a registered portfolio manager under a fiduciary standard, the closest Canadian analogue to the U.S. RIA model, and sits outside the CIRO-regulated investment dealer structure.
- • Sonance serves 1,400 business owners, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth clients through 21 client-facing employees, and plans to at least double its partner firms in coming months.
- • Trivest's investment amount was not disclosed, and Berkshire Partners' earlier investment in Harbourfront Wealth Group signals wider U.S. private equity interest in Canadian wealth management.
Summary
A new Canadian wealth management firm, Sonance Financial Inc., has launched in Toronto with $2.3 billion in client assets under management, according to The Globe and Mail. The firm was created through the consolidation of four independent advisory firms and is financed by U.S. private equity. Miami-based Trivest Partners LP is the controlling shareholder, with CEO Danielle Skipp and the founders of the four legacy firms among the other shareholders. Skipp has held senior compliance and executive roles at various firms and left her post as managing director for Ontario at Nicola Wealth Management Ltd. last year to start the venture. Trivest declined to disclose how much it invested.
The four founding partners are Advantage Financial Services Inc. (Lethbridge, Alta.), SONA Wealth Counsel Inc. (Ottawa), JV Financial Group (Edmonton) and Transition Financial Advisors Group Inc. (Phoenix). Sonance will operate as a registered portfolio manager under a fiduciary standard, the closest Canadian equivalent to the U.S. registered investment advisor model. Skipp says the partners will function like "lawyers in a law firm," sharing expertise, technology and resources while keeping their client relationships. She says the structure gives founders greater control than working at a CIRO-regulated investment dealer. Sonance has 21 client-facing employees, including registered advisors, and more than 50 employees overall, with 14 on the corporate team.
Sonance's roots trace to two years ago, when Trivest approached Ryan Peterson, owner of Advantage Financial, about Canadian wealth management. Peterson said he was attracted by "full operational control of the business." Brian Wruk, president of Transition Financial, said his firm had rejected approaches from 30 U.S.-based amalgamators over three years before the Sonance opportunity arose.
Skipp says Sonance plans to at least double its partner firms in the coming months and describes an active pipeline. She argues the Canadian RIA-style opportunity is at an early stage, though the U.S. equivalent has been largely realized. The Globe notes that Berkshire Partners earlier this year announced a strategic investment in Vancouver-based Harbourfront Wealth Group, indicating broader U.S. private equity interest in the sector.
The four founding partners are Advantage Financial Services Inc. (Lethbridge, Alta.), SONA Wealth Counsel Inc. (Ottawa), JV Financial Group (Edmonton) and Transition Financial Advisors Group Inc. (Phoenix). Sonance will operate as a registered portfolio manager under a fiduciary standard, the closest Canadian equivalent to the U.S. registered investment advisor model. Skipp says the partners will function like "lawyers in a law firm," sharing expertise, technology and resources while keeping their client relationships. She says the structure gives founders greater control than working at a CIRO-regulated investment dealer. Sonance has 21 client-facing employees, including registered advisors, and more than 50 employees overall, with 14 on the corporate team.
Sonance's roots trace to two years ago, when Trivest approached Ryan Peterson, owner of Advantage Financial, about Canadian wealth management. Peterson said he was attracted by "full operational control of the business." Brian Wruk, president of Transition Financial, said his firm had rejected approaches from 30 U.S.-based amalgamators over three years before the Sonance opportunity arose.
Skipp says Sonance plans to at least double its partner firms in the coming months and describes an active pipeline. She argues the Canadian RIA-style opportunity is at an early stage, though the U.S. equivalent has been largely realized. The Globe notes that Berkshire Partners earlier this year announced a strategic investment in Vancouver-based Harbourfront Wealth Group, indicating broader U.S. private equity interest in the sector.
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