LinePoint Partners, a recently-launched family office platform, is bringing on Rockerfeller Capital Management’s former wealth management operations head in a dual role as chief operating officer and chief compliance officer.
Before joining Rockefeller, James Chirdo spent 17 years with Merrill Lynch as a director of sales and relationship management, overseeing over 100 institutional broker/dealers. At Rockefeller, he built the operational structure for the firm’s wealth management b/d (onboarding more than 135 teams over his tenure).
In an interview with WealthManagement.com, Chirdo said he’d considered moving into the wirehouse and RIA space after departing Rockefeller, but opted for LinePoint to “build a foundation and a legacy” for a successful family office business, and then expand that platform to ultra-high-net-worth advisors looking for something that could “pave the road” into the family office space.
“We want to show that we’ve done it, we’ve been there, and we’ve been able to successfully use this platform. It’s a matter of making sure the platform is diverse, scalable and of course, compliant,” Chirdo said. “That’s where I think my addition will add value to an already talented organization.”
LinePoint launched in March by Robertino Coury, the founder of EO Management, the SFO managing the Coury family’s assets, and Andrew Sternlight, the former chief of staff for Bridgewater founder Ray Diallo. The firm began with between $400 million and $500 million, with the Coury family office as the primary client.
However, the platform is created for breakaway advisors, offering a family office infrastructure. The firm won’t directly chase HNW clients and compete with advisors; instead, it will pass on any referrals to advisors on the platform.
Advisors joining LinePoint will come under its Form ADV but will operate as independent contractors, with full ownership of their client relationships and branding. When joining LinePoint, advisors will benefit from transition packages that mix upfront capital and company equity. While LinePoint charges a platform fee totaling 40% of the advisory fee, advisors can decide whether to eat that cost or pass it to clients.
According to Chirdo (who is joining LinePoint as a founding partner), the firm’s next step is to pressure test its platform and start to onboard advisors at a gradual pace. He estimated that they could bring on two to four advisors during a 12-month period, though he noted that they might spring on market conditions that offer opportunities to bring more into the fold.
But from Chirdo’s perspective, LinePoint’s access to “unique and exclusive managers” offering opportunities in alternative asset classes is one of the company’s strongest selling points.
“They’ll spend more time in the alternative investments and private equity space, and private debt space as well, and using those partnerships to be able to build a differentiated platform rather than the traditional models,” he said.
In late May, LinePoint added former Sanctuary Wealth Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Colonna as its CMO and an independent advisory member of its executive committee.
The firm also named Cooper Rey chairman and a member of the executive committee. Rey is the managing director and head of strategy at Monroe Capital’s wealth management group. Before that, he helped lead the formation of Goldman Sachs’ RIA custody and capital markets solutions for RIAs and family offices. Anton Marinchik, the director of business development for Monroe’s wealth group, also joined LinePoint’s committee.
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