Former UBS Team Launches 71 West Capital With $6.3 Billion in Client Assets

The formation of 71 West Capital—one of the largest new RIAs launched in 2025—signals that UBS's largest teams increasingly see independence, not another wirehouse, as the answer.

A team of advisors managing $6.3 billion in client assets has left UBS to launch 71 West Capital, a new independent registered investment advisor that represents one of the largest breakaway launches of 2025. The formation, completed this month, adds to a growing list of billion-dollar teams choosing independence over another wirehouse affiliation.

Details about the team's specific structure and service model are still emerging, but the scale of the launch places 71 West Capital among the top new RIA formations of the year. The firm's $6.3 billion in assets would rank it as a significant player in the independent space from day one, with estimated annual revenue well into the tens of millions.

Independence as the Default

Five years ago, a team this size leaving a wirehouse would almost certainly have moved to another wirehouse. The transition deals—sometimes worth 300% to 400% of trailing revenue over time—were simply too lucrative to pass up. But the economics of independence have shifted dramatically.

Private equity capital has flooded the RIA space, giving breakaway teams access to upfront capital that can rival wirehouse deals while also offering equity ownership and long-term enterprise value that employee advisors at wirehouses never receive. Platforms like Sanctuary Wealth, Dynasty Financial Partners, and Hightower Advisors have built infrastructure specifically designed to make the breakaway transition seamless.

UBS's Loss, Independence's Gain

The 71 West Capital launch is particularly notable because it represents $6.3 billion that UBS will not recover through any retention program or compensation adjustment. Unlike a wirehouse-to-wirehouse move, where the losing firm can theoretically recruit the team back in five to seven years, a breakaway to independence typically represents a permanent departure from the wirehouse channel.

For UBS, the launch adds to an already painful tally: nearly $52 billion in advised assets have departed the firm in 2025. While the Swiss bank has responded with a more advisor-friendly 2026 compensation plan, the departure of teams capable of building $6 billion independent practices suggests that the damage extends beyond compensation grievances to fundamental questions about where top advisors want to build their careers.

71 West Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment about its platform, custodial relationships, or growth strategy.