Doug Ketterer, the former head of field management at Morgan Stanley, hopes to bring a new model to the independent broker/dealer space, with the help of two colleagues and private equity backing. He recently launched Atria Wealth Solutions, a wealth management holding company owned by Lee Equity Partners, and has launched an acquisition plan. Sister broker/dealers CUSO Financial Services and Sorrento Pacific Financial, both based in San Diego, Calif., were the firm’s first deals.

The plan seems to be to make a series of strategic acquisitions, with Atria providing a layer of advisor support, said Jodie Papike, executive vice president of Cross-Search, a recruiting firm focused on IBDs.