The Sanctuary CEO, commenting on the latest firm to enter its network, said the firm has been working to bolster its ultra-HNW solutions for partner firms in the past few years.

Sanctuary Wealth, the US group, announced last Friday that it had welcomed its latest partner firm, Auric Capital Partners, which oversees about $1 billion of client money. This adds to a group in charge of a total of $27 billion in AuM across its cluster of firms. 

The new firm was formed by the melding of two former Merrill Lynch teams: Mittman & Associates, a private wealth management group team led by Michael J Mittman in Denver; and McKelvy Schellenberg & Associates, a traditional wealth management advisory team led by Luke R McKelvy and William A Schellenberg. The business has offices in Orange County, California and Denver, Colorado.

"We've been working hard over the past couple of years to enhance our ultra-high net worth solutions for Sanctuary partner firms and their clients," Jim Dickson, CEO and founder of Sanctuary Wealth, said. "Auric's decision to launch their new firm with Sanctuary is a testament to the breadth and depth of resources and capabilities that we've added on this front."

"As an independent firm, we will now sit on the same side of the table with our clients and have the ability to provide truly objective advice, as our only goal is adding value to each client's financial future," Mittman said. "With Auric Capital Partners, we have assembled a team that has the scalability and expertise through the wealth management spectrum. Our firm has the ability to serve clients whether they have several hundred thousand dollars or several hundred million."

Mittman has 24 years of investment management experience – the last 14 were with Merrill Private Wealth Management.

Before they launched Auric Capital Partners, McKelvy and Schellenberg each spent 25 years with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management as a management advisor, senior vice president. McKelvy has earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst® designation and is a graduate of Chapman University. Schellenberg carried out his undergraduate work at University of Texas. 

Also joining Auric Capital as partners are: Jeffrey A Dewees, managing director, investments; Arman Melikian, managing director, investments; and Jay Tamkoc, managing director, advisory. Additionally, the 11-person teams includes: Anna T Walters, vice president, operations; Kristen Freeman, VP, client service; Meghan Ide, senior associate, client service; John Kincannon, associate, client service; and Francine England, associate, client service.

The Sanctuary Wealth network includes partner firms in 27 states across the country with about $25 billion in assets under advisement. Sanctuary Wealth includes fully owned subsidiaries: Sanctuary Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor; Sanctuary Securities, a FINRA member broker-dealer; Sanctuary Alternative Holdings; Sanctuary Asset Management; Sanctuary Insurance Solutions; Sanctuary Global; and Sanctuary Global Family Office. 

Recent moves included the addition in late August of Mackie & Waller Wealth Management Group in St Louis. In late July Sanctuary added Crescent Pine Family Office Group in Rye, New York. It also brought in SkyPath Private Wealth from Merrill Lynch, a New Jersey-based firm that had $1.2 billion in assets under management, and added Mesa Point Wealth, a Texas-based firm.

In July, Sanctuary, majority-owned by Azimut Group, closed a $175 million investment from Kennedy Lewis Investment Management.

Family Wealh Report interviewed Vince Fertitta in July about the firm's strategy and approach.