Ex-Truist And Balentine Advisors Leave Behind $4.5 Billion To Launch Atlanta RIA Targeting Families With At Least $30 Million In Assets

Atlanta’s newest RIA firm, MartinWright Advisory, launched Monday with seven employees and a clear mission: Bringing institutional-caliber investment management to complex families—and building an advisor-led ownership model designed to last.

The firm’s founders, Margaret Wright and Bradley Martin, are both in their 40s and are well-known in the city’s wealth management circles. Between them, they previously managed more than $4.5 billion in cumulative client assets at Truist and Balentine, respectively. Now, they’re betting their combined experience can anchor a new independent firm—one focused on deep customization, next-generation technology and clearly mapped advisor succession planning.

MartinWright will custody with Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions and operate under the Sanctuary Wealth platform, which acquired tru Independence while the firm was being structured. The RIA is jointly owned 50/50 by Wright and Martin, with no outside equity. “Our model is for us to sell this company to the advisors we hire over time,” says Martin.

The firm’s initial team includes Director of Investments Hugh Merkel, formerly of Mercer’s institutional consulting group. His mandate: bring “institutional-caliber asset management” to ultra-wealthy households. That means open architecture across public and private markets: Private equity and credit will be part of the mix, along with real estate and, occasionally, direct deals for clients approached with private opportunities.

“We’re balance-sheet focused, not AUM focused,” Wright says. “You have to understand the client’s full balance sheet to advise properly.” The firm is focusing on families with $30 million or more in net worth, though there will be no strict account minimums for new clients.

MartinWright’s technology infrastructure reflects the founders’ push toward efficiency. The firm used AI-driven modeling to forecast budgets, design compensation plans and streamline HR operations. “Starting a company today is completely different than fifteen years ago,” Martin says. “We can do far more with fewer bodies because the systems talk to each other from day one.”

The platform, built through Sanctuary’s integrated tech stack, automates data across CRM, planning, and reporting systems. “If you claim to be a next-gen firm, you have to embrace next-generation technology,” Wright says. “If you’re not evolving, you’ll get left behind.”

While technology and scale are part of the strategy, MartinWright’s founders talk more about people than tech. “Turnover is one of the major pain points for wealthy families,” Wright says. “We want to create an environment where advisors can become equity partners and grow their careers here.”

The founders are equally focused on the next generation of clients—those now inheriting responsibility for family wealth. “That group is in their 30s, 40s, and 50s,” Martin says. “We want to be intentional about how we serve them and engage their next chapter.”

The firm expects to reach about $800 million in AUM by the end of its first year, which should place it well beyond breakeven.