Two heavyweights in the asset management business, Robert Balentine and Chas Burkhart, have joined forces to launch Balentine, a new asset strategy firm that has opened in Atlanta.

Mr Balentine already has an eponymous firm under his belt: he was chairman and chief executive officer of Balentine & Company, the Atlanta-based investment counseling firm he co-founded in 1987 and sold to Wilmington Trust in 2002.

Mr Burkhart is founder of Rosemount Investment Partners, a private equity firm well known for funding companies in the wealth and asset management industries.

Why a new asset strategy firm and why now?

“The world is moving away from the Wall Street model,” Mr Balentine said. “Clients told us they wanted a conflict-free firm that can give them the best advice. We want to combine the best of the investment  consulting model with  the best in money management.”

“There is definitely a role for these kinds of firms,” said industry consultant Tim Welsh, president of Nexus Strategy, of Larkspur, California. “Investors need someone who can go out and find the smaller, innovate asset managers who are finding alpha but are too small to get on platforms.

“The challenge for these firms is they have a higher hurdle rate because they’re the middle man and their fees are included, and they’re under pressure to always be able to find those undiscovered managers.”

As a private, employee-owned firm, Balentine plans to co-invest with clients, said Adrian Cronje, a partner and the firm’s chief investment officer, who was previously chief investment strategist and chair of the investment strategy team at Wilmington Trust.

Balentine will also “de-couple” its fees, Mr Cronje said, letting clients know how many basis points they are being charged by the firm for advice and what they are paying to outside managers.

“That gives us an incentive to get the best deals we can for our clients,” he said.

Balentine sees itself as an outsourced chief investment officer, Mr Cronje said, offering advice to rebalance portfolios and “guidance on how to implement tactics and strategy.”

The firm has 17 professionals in Atlanta and has more than $250 million under management, and expects to oversee $1.0 billion by the end of the summer, Mr Cronje said.

In addition to Mr Cronje, Mr Balentine, who was executive vice president of Wilmington Trust Company and chairman and chief executive officer of Wilmington Trust Investment Management, brought over  several other executives from Wilmington.

Jeff Adams, Balentine’s chief operating officer, was previously  president and director of Wilmington Trust – Georgia, where he headed the Wealth Advisory/Federal Savings Bank Office, and Philip Cave, managing director of business development, most recently served as president of Wilmington Trust FSB Georgia.

Balentine’s chief investment strategist, S Alan McKnight, is the former chief investment officer of SunTrust Institutional Investment Advisors.