Hartford Business Journal

24 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 16, 2025 FOCUS | Wealth Management Brett Amendola, a veteran financial planner, has founded a new wealth management firm, Wooster Square Advisors in New Haven. He's part of a national trend of financial planners joining the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) movement. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Breaking Tradition Financial industry veteran Amendola defects from national firm to form startup wealth advisory; here's why it's a trend The main difference is that RIAs, as fiduciaries, are legally required to act in the client's best interest. They are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and are usually paid fees, while broker-dealers are compensated by commissions. Broker-dealers are held to a "suit- ability standard," meaning they must ensure investment recommendations are suitable for the client's needs and objectives, but are not legally required to act in the client's best interest at all times. They are regulated primarily by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Industry trends According to the 2024 FINRA Industry Snapshot, there were 713,576 registered financial planners in the U.S. in 2023. Of those, 308,795 were broker- dealers (43%), 319,597 (45%) were dual broker-dealers/investment advisor representatives and 85,184 (12%) were investment advisor representatives without broker-dealer affiliations. According to McKinsey & Co., RIA firms represent the fastest-growing category in the U.S. wealth manage- ment market, with 12% annual growth in assets between 2016 and 2021, versus 7% for other traditional advisor models. Also, the number of representatives registered as RIAs surged 28% over the past five years, while the number registered solely as broker-dealers fell 18%, according to a 2025 report from Institutional Shareholder Services Market Intelligence. Meantime, the number of dual regis- trants, serving as both a broker-dealer and an RIA, grew 4%. Hybrid model Wooster Square Advisors operates as both a broker-dealer and an RIA, offering commission- and fee-based services. "The only thing we want to take care of on a day-to-day basis is the client," Amendola said. "Their needs come first, not the needs of the broker-dealer." Increasingly, broker-dealers are switching to the RIA model because it gives them greater autonomy, according to Charles Failla, a board member of the Financial Planning Asso- ciation of Connecticut, and founder and CEO of Stamford-based Sover- eign Financial Group Inc. RIAs, Failla said, tend to provide neutral advice, without the bias toward proprietary products that is inherent in a commission-driven environment. He compares broker-dealers to salespeople, because their primary objective is to sell a product that yields the greatest return for them — not necessarily the client. "It lends itself to bias," Failla said. "And why not try to wipe as much bias out of the system as possible?" Failla said he has mixed thoughts on the dual broker-dealer/RIA model. "What does that mean exactly?" he asked rhetorically. "Does that mean on By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com B rett Amendola was a successful wealth advisor at a major finan- cial firm in February 2023 when he and five colleagues defected to form a startup. Amendola left New York City-based National Financial Network, where he was a managing partner, to start fresh with a new business model and an independent approach to wealth management. He owns Wooster Square Advisors, which is headquartered in the District in New Haven. Amendola said he became disen- chanted with the broker-dealer model. "What's important about this busi- ness is the idea of entrepreneurial freedom," Amendola said. "You work for these big companies, and there's somebody who's got an MBA, who's sitting in some office in some town that you've never been to, in a building you'll never go to, and they're trying to tell you how to best take care of your clients, but they've never been in your shoes, and they've never been in your market." Wooster Square, which has about a dozen employees, is the second wealth advisory firm that Amendola has founded in Connecticut. In 2012, he opened his first financial advisory and wealth management firm, Aegis Wealth Partners, which had offices in Madison and Milford. Aegis was acquired by National Financial Network in August 2016. Amendola, 56, is a graduate of Quin- nipiac University. He has more than 30 years of industry experience and has held senior roles at Prudential Finan- cial, UBS and Barnum Financial Group. Migration toward RIA Amendola's move to create Wooster Square is part of a national trend that involves a growing number of "break- away advisors" — financial planners who flee traditional broker-dealer models and join the Registered Invest- ment Advisor (RIA) movement. Charles Failla Wooster Square Advisors launches new brand N ew Haven-based Wooster Square Advisors doesn't disclose its assets under management, but the firm is growing. It expanded in March with the launch of a sister business, Wooster Square Partners. The new business, led by Managing Partner Francis McGrail, focuses on strategic management of advisors. Wooster Square Advisors Managing Partner Brett Amendola said he considers McGrail a longtime mentor and coach. The two met working at UBS about 30 years ago. Through Wooster Square Partners, other advisors and teams forge revenue-sharing agreements with Wooster Square, allowing them to tap into Wooster Square's resources. Wooster Square helps other firms "increase productivity, expand their referability and manage business complexities," Amendola said. "We're finding that other advisors want to affiliate with us, but maybe didn't necessarily want, or we didn't want them necessarily, to join the Wooster Square Advisors team," Amendola said. — Andrew Larson, HBJ Web Editor

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