Summit Financial Announces Partnership with Merchant Investment Management and Industry Veteran Stan Gregor to Launch “SummitVantage” Advisor Solution Suite

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Summit Financial, a 36-year-old financial services firm that empowers independent wealth management advisors to grow efficient and sustainable practices, today announced the launch of SummitVantage™, a ground-breaking new advisor solution suite. The offering provides access to a broad range of essential services that eliminate operational burdens in a democratized, non-cost-prohibitive way.

Summit also announced a new strategic partnership with Merchant Investment Management that has bolstered the launch of SummitVantage. Merchant, as well as current Summit Financial CEO Stan Gregor, took minority equity interests in Summit, which will allow the firm to scale as it begins to offer the SummitVantage experience more broadly to independent advisors in the market.

“The decision to bring in Merchant to help further launch SummitVantage was both strategic and personal,” said Gregor, who has been at the helm of Summit for three years and oversaw the development of SummitVantage. “We know SummitVantage offers advisors a true marketplace advantage, and Merchant’s support positions us like no other firm in our space given their knowledge and network. We’re also excited to work side-by-side with close friends we trust and respect.”

Merchant’s partners represent prominent leaders in financial services including Marc Spilker, Scott Prince, Tim Bello, Bryan Staff, and David Mrazik. Spilker spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs, where he retired as global co-head of Goldman Sachs Investment Management, later becoming President of Apollo Global Management.

For the past several years, Summit has leveraged its collaborative culture, working closely with key advisors to fine-tune SummitVantage, an offering that truly feels hand-crafted by advisors for advisors. “We have a different business model,” said Gregor. “We’re focused on listening to advisors and providing access to some of the best tools available so they can grow their practices and best serve their clients. We didn’t want to build the all-to-common, overpriced platform stitched together with legacy systems and antiquated technologies that don’t actually align with client and advisor needs. As a privately held company, we don’t have the burden of having to announce quarterly earnings, giving us the flexibility to reinvest in our advisors and the firm whenever needed. When clients and advisors win, we win too.”

Through Summit’s affiliated entities, SummitVantage provides access to in-house professionals that support financial planning, investment management, risk management, operations, client billing, legal and compliance, advisor lending services, and HR resources. In addition, Summit has also invested significant capital to integrate best-of-breed technologies into a single, proprietary advisor portal. “Our goal is to make physical paperwork obsolete and help advisors get back to spending more time with clients,” said Gregor.

Through the financial advisors and various companies owned and affiliated with Summit Financial Holdings, LLC, financial consultation services are provided on more than $5 billion of assets. Since soft-launching SummitVantage over the past several weeks, Summit has seen a significant response. Several businesses overseeing several billion dollars of assets are slated to leverage the platform in the near-term.

About Merchant Investment Management

Merchant is a private partnership providing growth capital, management resources, strategic opportunities, and direction to independent financial services companies, particularly those focused on wealth and asset management. By establishing and optimizing business infrastructure, providing access to organic and inorganic growth opportunities, designing and accessing bespoke investment solutions, and providing collaborative capital solutions to address a variety of business needs, Merchant helps unlock value and entrepreneurial opportunity for business owners. To learn more about Merchant and the Merchant team, please visit www.merchantim.com.

About Summit Financial

Summit Financial, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor established November 2018, is the successor firm to Summit Equities, Inc. (registered with the SEC in 1991) and Summit Financial Resources, Inc. (registered with the SEC in 1983) for of all of their investment advisory and financial planning business.

SummitVantage is a branding slogan only used to identify the services offered by Summit Financial Holdings, LLC’s affiliated firms.

As an independent wealth management firm for more than 35 years, Summit Financial is proud to continue its legacy of guiding clients toward financial success by aligning extensive experience with a forward-thinking philosophy, adapting to industry changes for the sake of best serving our clients now and well into the future. With customized, wholistic, and hands-on advice, we turn life’s aspirations into success stories. Our financial advice focuses on individual needs and values, not industry norms. To learn more about our firm, please visit our website at www.summitfinancial.com.

Contacts

Media 
Tisha Kresler 
Rubenstein 
(212) 843-8294 
tkresler@rubenstein.com