Indianapolis financial advisory team leaves Stifel for Sanctuary Wealth

A six-member financial investment team has left Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. to form a new firm, M&K Legacy Wealth, which is affiliated with Indianapolis-based Sanctuary Wealth.

But in an unusual about-face, two veteran Stifel advisers who were expected to be part of the new firm called off the move just days after the founding was announced.

On Friday, Sanctuary Wealth announced that the longtime Tanner Wealth Management Group—led by 57-year industry veteran L. Gene Tanner and based at 8900 Keystone Crossing in Indianapolis—was leaving to form M&K Legacy Wealth. Another adviser, Suzanne Marshall, with nearly 40 years in the industry, was also joining the new “billion-dollar” firm, according to the announcement.

However, by Monday, Tanner and Marshall had decided to remain at Stiffel, representatives of both Stifel and Sanctuary confirmed to IBJ.

M&K’s co-founders are John Cody “J.” Miller and Chad Keller, who have 25 years and 20 years of experience as investment brokers, respectively. The new firm’s other employees are Wealth Adviser Christy Swindell, Director of Operations Jessica Keller, Senior Wealth Associate Cindy Staggs and Wealth Associate Elizabeth Lamkin.

All six people at M&K were formerly part of the Tanner Wealth Management Group.

A source familiar with M&K said the firm projects that it will support about $900 million in client assets.

When an adviser leaves one firm for another, their clients can choose whether to remain with the adviser’s former firm or transfer their assets to the adviser’s new firm.

Tanner, 91, has worked as an investment adviser since 1958, with long stints at now-defunct local brokerages Raffensperger Hughes & Co. and City Securities Corp. Marshall has been a financial adviser since 1985 and also worked for Raffensperger Hughes & Co.

Tanner, Marshall, Miller and Chad Keller all joined Stifel in 2017 when Stifel acquired City Securities.

IBJ attempted to contact Tanner and Marshall for details on why they changed their minds, but a Stifel branch manager directed IBJ to the company’s corporate spokesman, saying local employees are not permitted to speak directly to the press.

Tanner and Marshall are the only two people currently listed on Tanner Wealth Management’s website.

M&K will be based at Sanctuary Wealth’s offices at 3815 River Crossing.

“As co-founders of M&K Legacy Wealth, Chad Keller and I respect Gene and Suzanne’s decision to reaffiliate with their previous platform, and we wish them all the best going forward,” Miller said in a written statement. “We are especially grateful to Gene for his guidance and mentorship over many years, which have enabled Chad and me to successfully operate and grow our wealth management firm over the past several decades.”

Sanctuary Wealth was founded in 2018 through the acquisition of Indianapolis-based David A. Noyes & Co.

In unrelated news involving employee departures from Stifel, a federal judge in Missouri on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that Stifel filed in March 2023 against a newly formed Indianapolis firm, Sapient Capital LLC.

Stifel filed that suit against Sapient after nearly all of the 30-plus employees at its 96^th Street office, also known as the KCP Group, abruptly quit to join Sapient. KCP had about $10 billion in client assets under management at the time, Stifel’s complaint said.

Stifel is based in St. Louis, but the judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction because the events in question took place in Indianapolis. The suit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the plaintiff can choose to revisit the issue.

A Stifel representative told IBJ that the firm intends to re-file the case in a different jurisdiction. The representative also said a parallel case is still active with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA.