The man who was targeting high net-worth clients before they were called high net-worth is back in the game.

Marty Weinberg, founder of Assante Corp. , has quietly re-emerged in the rarefied air of ultra-high net-worth investors through the Canadian operations of Loring Ward International Ltd.

He has kept a relatively low profile since stepping down as its CEO last January, largely because he didn’t want to move to the U.S., where Loring Ward is now based. But last month, Weinberg and Jim Morden, a long-time lieutenant, acquired the Canadian book of business for an undisclosed sum after the parent company determined it no longer fit with its plans.

Weinberg’s primary role at the firm — which will be renamed once the sale closes at the end of September — will be as a shareholder and strategist, while Morden will lead its growth.

Loring Ward used to be known as Assante’s U.S. division before Assante’s Canadian arm was sold to CI Fund Management Inc. for $846 million in the summer of 2003.

After the sale, Weinberg and several other significant Assante shareholders, as well as some family and friends, needed somebody to manage their new-found wealth. Finding nothing they liked in the market, they registered in Canada as investment counsellors and decided to look after the money themselves.

“When Assante was sold, we promised these clients and their families that we would always look after them. We’re keeping that promise,” Weinberg says.

Morden says that, starting some time next year, he would like to open offices in major centres across Canada. “There are certain advisors in the industry whom I think might be interested in joining us as we go forward. It will take us six to 12 months to get up and running and do anything more than we’re doing right now,” he says of the one advisor/two portfolio manager office in downtown Winnipeg.

Morden says the company will be privately owned by himself and Weinberg at the conclusion of the transaction.

“In time, others will join us,” he says. “The success of Assante was created by having key members of the organization have some skin in the game and an opportunity to grow.
That model seems to work.”

Morden and Weinberg have to be careful how they tread. They’re only allowed back in business prior to the expiration of their 30-month non-compete agreement next spring because of a provision in the CI deal that they not step on CI’s turf.

“Our desire is to continue working with ultra-high net-worth clients with assets of more than $2.5 million, which is consistent with the non-compete provisions with CI. It wanted us to keep out of the retail part of the market, and we have no desire to enter that part of the marketplace. At least, not at this point,” Morden says.

Joe Canavan, CEO of CI-owned Assante, acknowledges the pair have “very specific” obligations to follow, but he’s not worried about the rules being breached.

“Certain actions and targeting certain groups would be in contravention of the deal,” he says. “You don’t spend $850 million without protecting yourself from outside forces, especially ones that are intimate with the inner workings of the company.”
And until Canavan sees his new competitor in action, he has no idea what impact it might
have.

Dan Richards, president of Strategic Imperatives Ltd. , a Toronto-based consulting firm to the financial services industry, says although the high net-worth market is the fastest-growing segment in Canada, Loring Ward isn’t the first one to sit up and take notice.

“There is an opportunity to bring a higher level of consistency, service and client orientation to that business,” he says. The banks will be formidable competitors, he adds, but other firms such as Vancouver-based Phillips Hager & North Investment
Management Ltd. and Montreal-based Jarislowsky Fraser are also fighting for the business.

Weinberg has worked with Morden since founding Loring Ward, a boutique specializing in serving high net-worth clients, in the mid-1980s. IE