The four-strong team have joined forces with three principals from an Ohio-based registered investment advisor to found the firm, hence the name “One Seven”.

Todd Resnick, Michael Mawby, Stuart Gertman and Bruce Greenwald – who together managed around $600 million of assets for 500 clients as financial advisors at Morgan Stanley – have teamed up with MGO Investment Advisors to launch One Seven. 

The team had been at Morgan Stanley since November 2008, having previously worked at Merrill Lynch. They will head up One Seven alongside MGO principals Ronald Gross, Richard Gross and Paul Orchosky.

The firm will have its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, where MGO is based, with an additional office in Park City, Utah. 

“We found we shared a vision of creating an advisory business that was deeply engaged and connected with our clients' lives,” said Todd Resnick, who serves as president of the new firm. “We wanted to interact with our clients on a deeper level than simply making a phone call when the market goes up or down, or when they have a question about a dividend or mutual fund.”

Aside from the seven founders, One Seven said its name relates to the “seven pillars of wellness” – emotional, physical, social, occupational, environmental, intellectual and spiritual – which ties in with the firm's holistic approach to wealth management.

Ron Gross will serve as chief executive of One Seven, while continuing to lead MGO in that same capacity. He will spearhead the new firm's overall strategy and business development efforts.

“We know that going independent is complicated and time-consuming but our goal at One Seven is to make that whole process easier for other advisors who want to join our network,” he said.