90-Advisor Merrill Team Launches OpenArc With Dynasty Financial in Record $130 Billion Breakaway

A 90-advisor Merrill Lynch team launched OpenArc with Dynasty Financial Partners, moving $130B in the largest breakaway in industry history.

The largest single advisor departure in wealth management history has come to fruition. A 90-advisor group from Merrill Lynch, managing nearly $130 billion in client assets, has formally launched OpenArc Corporate Advisory in partnership with Dynasty Financial Partners. The breakaway, which had been rumored for months, represents a seismic shift in the industry's power dynamics.

OpenArc's scale is unprecedented. At $130 billion, the new firm instantly becomes one of the largest independent RIAs in the country — larger than many well-established platforms that have been building for decades. The advisor group includes specialists in corporate executive services, institutional consulting, and ultra-high-net-worth family advisory.

Dynasty Financial Partners, the St. Petersburg-based firm that provides technology, compliance, and operational support to breakaway RIAs, has been instrumental in the transition. Dynasty's platform handles the back-office infrastructure that allows advisory teams to focus on client relationships rather than administrative complexity.

The departure is a devastating blow to Merrill Lynch's corporate advisory business. The OpenArc team had been the backbone of Merrill's executive services division, managing stock option exercises, deferred compensation plans, and concentrated stock positions for corporate executives at dozens of public companies. Replacing that expertise and those client relationships will take years.

For the departing advisors, the economics were compelling but not the sole motivation. The team has publicly stated that independence gives them the ability to provide truly objective advice without the conflicts of interest inherent in a wirehouse's proprietary product distribution. Merrill's requirement that advisors give preference to BofA-manufactured products — including banking, lending, and investment vehicles — was reportedly a persistent source of friction.

The financial terms of the breakaway have not been disclosed in detail, but industry estimates suggest that the combined equity value of the OpenArc platform could exceed $2 billion within five years, based on typical RIA valuations. For advisors who were employees at Merrill with no equity in the business, the opportunity to build a valuable, transferable asset is transformative.

The legal implications are still playing out. Merrill has filed litigation against several members of the departing group, alleging violations of non-solicitation agreements and improper use of confidential client information. The departing team has countered that the litigation is a standard wirehouse tactic designed to slow the transition and create uncertainty among clients.

Industry observers note that the OpenArc breakaway could have a cascading effect. Other large teams at Merrill and competing wirehouses are watching closely. If OpenArc successfully transitions a significant percentage of its $130 billion in assets and the team's income increases substantially under the independent model, it will validate the breakaway thesis for other elite teams.

Dynasty Financial's CEO, Shirl Penney, called the launch "the most significant validator of the independent model in the history of wealth management." Penney noted that Dynasty's platform was specifically designed to support transitions of this scale, with dedicated project management, technology migration, and client communication resources.

What to watch: The key metric over the next 12 months is asset portability — how much of the $130 billion follows the advisors to OpenArc. Industry averages for wirehouse-to-independent transitions range from 70-90%. At the low end, OpenArc would still manage more than $90 billion. At the high end, it would be approaching $120 billion — either way, a category-defining independent firm.