A longtime Merrill Lynch advisor who managed $1.9 billion in assets under management has left to launch his practice with Summit Financial in Pasadena, Calif., according to a news release today.
John McWhorter, managing partner and private wealth advisor, has affiliated his new practice, SRM Private Wealth, with Summit’s partnership model, Summit Growth Partners, which “combines cash monetization with equity participation and exclusive partnership privileges,” the release said.
McWhorter has been with Merrill Lynch for 16 years, according to BrokerCheck. He began his career with Painewebber in 1992, moved to Citigroup Global Markets in 1994 and spent 13 years there before joining Merrill Lynch. He was ranked No. 105 on the 2024 Forbes Best-in State Wealth Advisors’ list, and his team, the McWhorter Group, was No. 131 on the Forbes Best-in State Wealth Management Teams list, the press release said.
Joining him at Summit are partner and director of client services Sandra Parracino and client associate Kyle Szesnat. The team specializes in serving wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals, including executives in the sports and entertainment industry, with a keen focus on asset protection and growth, the release said.
“What drew me to Summit was its powerhouse of resources designed to accelerate our growth,” McWhorter said in a statement. “Throughout the due diligence process, it became evident that Summit’s open-architecture approach to investment opportunities, combined with Goldman Sachs’ custody solution, was precisely what my team needed in order to succeed."
SRM is the 11th firm this year to join the Parsippany, N.J.-based Summit Growth Partners, the release said. The addition of SRM has also boosted the firm’s West Coast presence and brought its assets under management to more than $5 billion so far in 2024