Mariner Wealth Advisors has seen its first transition from its independent advisor platform to a full Mariner firm, a move CEO and President Marty Bicknell sees as Mariner’s succession capabilities in action.
Ocean Heights Advisors, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based registered investment advisor, joined mega-RIA Mariner’s independent advisor channel in 2022. In April, the $730 million Ocean Heights will transition into being a full Mariner firm, giving up independence to gain closer access to Mariner’s scale and resources.
“The idea [of Mariner Independent] has always been around the concept of firms that may not be completely ready to sell the business to get an opportunity to utilize the resources and the systems that we’ve built, and eventually, there might be an opportunity to move over to the other side,” Bicknell said.
Ocean Heights’ team, including founders Kevin O’Grady and Nella Webster, will be part of the move. Ocean Heights partners Kevin Barlow, Danielle Bronner and Kara Devar will become shareholders in Mariner, and Barlow will lead Mariner’s Newport Beach locale.
Mariner set up its independent advisor channel in 2020 through a partnership with Dynasty Financial Partners, in which advisors were 1099 contractors. In 2021, Mariner took on the independent setup and ended the relationship with Dynasty.
Bicknell said the independent channel has since grown to 270 firms representing $34 billion in assets, with more additions in 2025.
When developing the program, Mariner thought bringing over independents from the channel would be an opportunity but wasn’t sure to what extent, Bicknell said. The core reason for starting the W-2 side of the business was to leverage Mariner’s scale in marketing, human resources and compliance divisions, as well as services such as tax planning, trusts and estates, and investment banking for closely held businesses.
“All of those things exist to elevate the advisor value proposition,” Bicknell said. “Allowing that offering to be available for independent advisors creates a revenue stream that turns cost centers into profit centers and allows us to have an opportunity to reinvest back into them and grow them even more.”
Through the channel, Mariner assists advisors with investment portfolios and provides billing, compliance, technology, marketing support and insurance.
Consultancy Cerulli Associates recently forecasted that the independent RIA channel will continue to have the strongest headcount growth among advisor channels. But competition in the space is also ramping up, with national broker/dealers competing for talent and expanding their services.
During its time in Mariner’s network, Ocean Heights expanded its client services and nearly doubled its assets under advisement.
“After three years of successfully working together, fully integrating with Mariner is a natural evolution and will allow our team to provide even greater value to our clients while devoting more time to the personal relationships that have always been our hallmark,” said Barlow, managing partner of Ocean Heights Advisors, in a statement.
Bicknell anticipates these types of moves will be in the minority, or about 10% to 15% of its independent channel firms. But he and the team will continue to make the case for the transition, now using Ocean Heights as a real-world example.
To provide truly “holistic” financial services, “the talent should be in-house,” Bicknell said. “Priorities should be the same so you’re not being pulled in multiple directions. Culture should be the same so you are delivering as a team together. … The ability and desire to re-invest for growth is also important. Mariner’s appetite for that is significantly different than a typical RIA, especially RIAs in the plus or minus $1 billion category.”
Mariner and its affiliates advise on over $560 billion in assets, including those of Cardinal Investment Advisors, the institutional investment consulting firm with $292 billion in AUA that Mariner announced it was acquiring in January. That deal is expected to close at the end of March.