Waypoint Residential has launched Waypoint Financial Group to address the growing demand from wealth advisers and individual investors for alternative investments. The division operates under the firm's affiliated broker-dealer Waypoint Direct Investments.
“Through our extensive risk assessment and return performance, we’ve built an institutional-caliber platform in which individual investors can participate. The stability of our investments and the tax treatment of our returns created a demand that we want to serve by expanding our platform and team,” said Scott Lawlor, founder and CEO of Waypoint.
Scott Smith, senior managing director of Waypoint Residential, will oversee Waypoint Financial Group’s operations, while IBD and RIA intermediary relationships will be managed by Al Haworth, CEO of Waypoint Financial Group.
New appointments include:
- Lavea Thomas, senior vice president of national accounts, is responsible for Waypoint Financial Group’s business development and relationship management within the independent broker-dealer channels. She brings 15 years of experience in the alternative investment arena and financial securities sales, including serving as senior vice president and director of business development with Realty Capital Securities and senior vice president of national accounts with Grubb & Ellis Capital Corp.
- Weldon Evans, senior vice president, oversees the Eastern division. With more than 30 years of industry experience, Evans was most recently senior vice president at Preferred Capital Securities, where he oversaw the distribution of their preferred stock offerings. He previously held senior positions at Alex Brown and Sons, Bank of America Capital Management and AIG.
- Todd Patterson, senior vice president, is responsible for oversight of the Central division. He has more than 18 years of equity and real estate investment experience, delivering institutional-quality investment opportunities to financial intermediaries. Prior to joining Waypoint, Patterson was director of business development for Todd-Veredus Asset Management and regional vice president for ABN AMRO Asset Management, a $34 billion boutique mutual fund company.
- Scott Scherer, senior vice president, runs Waypoint Financial Group’s Western division. Most recently, he served as regional vice president for Preferred Capital Securities. Previously, Scherer worked with Dreyfus/Mellon Bank and The Hartford, raising a combined total of more than $1 billion in assets during his tenure.
- Karen George, vice president of marketing and operations, leads the effort to create the operational infrastructure for Waypoint Financial Group. Her role includes developing relationships with third-party entities such as DST/SS&C Technologies, custodians and outside technology service providers. She leverages nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in the alternative investment arena. Previously, she held roles at Atlas Energy and Wells Real Estate Funds, where she served as the director of the Mid-Horizon Value-Added Fund, overseeing the development, implementation and monitoring of sales processes for a newly designed private placement investment product.