Wirehouse Connections: Why a Next Gen Merrill Advisor Joined His $1B Breakaway Colleagues

The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors

With Dylan O’Shea, Partner, Quorum Private Wealth

Overview

Dylan O’Shea offers a unique perspective from a growing advisor with a long runway who could have easily opted for a transition check but instead chose independence. He discusses why he joined Quorum Private Wealth, the value of their shared vision, infrastructure, and more.

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NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation.

About this episode…

The choice to leave the firm where you built your business often comes down to what we call the pushes and the pulls.

The pushes are typically those things that are limiting or frustrating you. The pulls are the desire to achieve something greater: A vision for a future that allows you to serve clients and grow the business with less friction and more potential.

It’s not uncommon to feel some pushes, but we find that advisors more frequently shared that they left their firm because they were pulled toward an option that offered “a better way.”

Dylan O’Shea is one such advisor who felt that pull.

For Dylan, it was an attraction that led him toward independence after 10 years of building a solo practice at Merrill—a tenure that included serving as a coach for the financial advisor training program and as Chair of Merrill’s NextGen Leadership Council, and ultimately generating $1mm in annual revenue.

Yet, over time, the nagging sense that Merrill was “no longer his tribe,” as Dylan put it, became stronger—and he wanted to achieve more than he felt was possible at the firm.

As a young and growing advisor, Dylan watched as others left Merrill to follow their dreams and build independent firms that offered them greater freedom and control—which was a prospect that Dylan found attractive.

After conducting due diligence, Dylan decided to join former Merrill senior colleagues Kelly Milligan and Mike Barry at Quorum Private Wealth in 2022.

Dylan shares his story with Mindy Diamond, including:

• The specific pushes and pulls that he experienced—and what pulls were the tipping point.
• The draw to join independent firm Quorum—and how he found a new tribe in the process.
• The decision between taking a transition deal from another firm vs. independence—and why tucking into an existing firm was the path he chose.
• The value of infrastructure—and why scale, support, and experience was a key factor in his decision.

It’s a narrative that offers a unique perspective of a young, growing advisor with a long runway who could have easily opted for a transition check but instead chose independence, why he opted to tuck into an existing firm rather than build his own, and much more.

Want to learn more about where, why, and how advisors like you are moving? Click to contact us or call 908-879-1002.

Related Resources

Ex-Merrill ACTM Chair to Independent Business Owner: A Former Insider’s Point of View
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Tuck-ins: Independence for Advisors Who Don’t Want to be That Independent
Giving up some control to gain additional freedom and flexibility is just right for many advisors considering independence.

Dylan O’Shea, CFP®
Partner

After several years as a teacher, Dylan joined Merrill’s PMD training program in NYC where over the next decade he built a solo advisory practice to over $1 million in annual revenue. He also earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, recognized as the highest industry credential.

While at Merrill, he also held leadership roles as Chair of Merrill’s NextGen Leadership Council and as a coach for the FA training program in Merrill’s Fifth Avenue NYC office.

In late 2022, Dylan left Merrill for supported independence with Quorum Private Wealth, a Bay-Area based firm, and launched the NYC Metro office. In 2023 and 2024, Quorum was named as one of Forbes/Shook Top RIA Firms.

When not out in nature or supporting his children’s extra-curriculars, he can be found most weekends cheering on his beloved English Premier League soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur.

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