Fieldpoint’s Advisor Banking Services will eventually be available to the entire independent registered investment advisor community.

Fieldpoint Private, the Connecticut-based firm, has launched a banking services platform following its recent partnership with Summit Financial Holdings and Merchant Investment Management. 

Summit and Merchant will acquire the assets of Fieldpoint’s investment advisory unit, and Fieldpoint Private’s banking services will be delivered through Summit’s advisor services platform, SummitVantage, Fieldpoint said in a statement late last week. 

When the transition completes, Fieldpoint’s wealth management business will boost Summit's assets to about $12 billion, more than doubling the client base served by Fieldpoint’s banking services today.

Merchant Investment Management, a capital partner to Summit, is a network of independent advisors with around $100 billion in client investment assets under management.

Fieldpoint’s Advisor Banking Services will eventually be available to the entire independent registered investment advisor community, comprising more than 14,000 firms managing nearly $5 trillion in client assets.

Christopher DeLaura, chief executive of Fieldpoint’s wealth advisory business, who will continue to lead the unit’s teams within Summit, said that the agreement is a big commitment to the independent advisory space. “Independence is the future of wealth advice, and I’m convinced our collective venture is the future of independence,” he said.   

Fieldpoint Private has more than $1.3 billion in bank assets and $5.1 billion in total wealth management assets.