J.P. Morgan Team Departs to Create $18.6B Independent Firm
An advisory duo who managed about $18.6 billion in client assets at J.P. Morgan Advisors is going independent with the launch of Latigo Peak Partners.
Phil Scott and Jim Atwood founded the RIA to work with ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. It is based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., with co-operational hubs in Bellevue, Wash., and Boston, as well as a field office in Los Angeles.
With its launch, the firm immediately became one of the country’s largest independent wealth firms. It remains founder-owned and self-funded, without any private equity capital, and intends to follow a long-term vision rather than manage for a future transaction.
Currently, SEC records list 10 registrants affiliated with the firm. In addition to the founders, 48 professionals are with Latigo Peak at its launch.
According to Scott, Latigo Peak Partners’ goal is to “build a firm geared principally toward investment performance and a distinctive client experience,” and that “independence gives us the ability to take responsibility for the future of our business and make decisions based on what we believe is right for our clients over the long term.”
According to SEC records, Atwood was with Merrill Lynch from 1984 to 2018, when he joined First Republic Wealth Management (which was subsequently bought by JPMorgan following the regional bank crisis spurred by Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in 2022).
At J.P. Morgan Advisors, Scott and Atwood led two wealth management practices and, over the past six years, grew their total revenue from $34 million to $130 million. The new firm follows a family capital model, employing investment performance and comprehensive planning to meet individual family needs, without requiring families to fit a predetermined institutional model.
The services include assessments of individual income requirements, risk tolerance, liquidity needs and long-term objectives, and the firm will build customized portfolios with family-office-style services, including estate and wealth planning and philanthropic advice.
Latigo Peak will custody with Charles Schwab and BNY Pershing, with Fusion Financial Partners acting as a strategic advisor for the firm’s launch.
