Elevation Point Buys Minority Stake in Indianapolis RIA Forta Wealth Partners After Merrill Lynch Breakaway

What happened

Elevation Point has taken a minority ownership stake in Forta Wealth Partners, a newly established registered investment advisory firm based in Indianapolis with more than $900 million in client assets. The transaction marks Elevation Point’s 10th partnership since the firm’s launch in 2024.

Who is Forta Wealth Partners

Forta Wealth Partners was created by a six-person team that previously operated as The Turner Group within Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. The firm is led by principals and wealth advisors Will Turner, Jon Shurtz, and Harrison “Taylor” McDougal. The remaining team members are Brandon Marvel (associate, client services), Holly Hynes (manager of team and client services), and Madeline Armstrong (financial advisor).

The advisory practice serves clients across 26 U.S. states and works with C-suite executives, business owners, multi-generational families, physicians, endowments and nonprofit organizations, and professional athletes. The firm also provides retirement plan advisory services to 401(k) plans.

How the partnership is structured

Elevation Point describes its model as providing capital and operating support while taking minority stakes in independent advisory firms and breakaway teams. In this case, Elevation Point becomes a minority investor in Forta Wealth Partners rather than an acquirer of full control.

Elevation Point’s CEO and founding partner, Jim Dickson, previously held leadership roles at Merrill Lynch and later led the launch of Sanctuary Wealth. Dickson has said he originally hired Turner at Merrill Lynch roughly two decades ago.

Custody and investment capabilities

Forta Wealth Partners selected Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions as its custody platform. The choice aligns with Elevation Point’s broader platform relationships, which include access to banking, lending, trading, asset management, and capital markets services through Goldman Sachs. Under the arrangement described for Elevation Point’s partner firms, advisors can access certain Goldman capabilities without being required to custody client assets there.

Forta’s leadership has highlighted a focus on expanding access to private-market investments for eligible clients, an area that can be operationally and administratively more complex for advisors operating inside traditional wirehouse structures.

Why it matters in the Indianapolis advisory market

The deal adds to a pattern of advisor teams leaving large brokerage firms to form independent RIAs, often pairing with minority-stake partners to fund growth, build infrastructure, and broaden investment menus. For Indianapolis, the launch of a nine-figure local RIA underscores continued competition for affluent households and institutional-style services, particularly among executives, business owners, and nonprofit and endowment relationships.

• Transaction: Elevation Point takes a minority stake in Forta Wealth Partners
• Location: Indianapolis
• Scale: Over $900 million in client assets
• Team origin: Former Merrill Lynch Wealth Management practice
• Custodian: Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions

Forta Wealth Partners’ launch highlights the continued shift of experienced wirehouse teams toward independence, with minority-stake financing increasingly used to combine local ownership with institutional-grade platforms.