Putnam Lovell Equity Partners is taking a minority stake in a fee-based advisory shop specializing in the affluent market. The limited partnership controlled by Putnam Lovell NBF Private Equity will take a stake in PowellJohnson, Inc of Nashville, Tennessee that was founded in 2002 by Jeff Powell and David Johnson.

"We have been monitoring the evolution of the retail investment advisory segment of the financial services industry, and the change from a transaction- oriented to a fee-based advisory approach," said James Minnick, president of Putnam Lovell NBF Private Equity. "PowellJohnson has a superb reputation in this marketplace and is on its way to becoming a major wealth management firm. Our strategic investment will help with those growth opportunities."

The advisor plans to use the capital to expand its business by opening offices in major metropolitan markets and wealth centers during the next several years, according to CEO Powell. Topping the list for the expansion plans is Charlotte. That office will open in the "near future" according to the firm.

PowellJohnson currently has 54 employees located in offices in Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina. The firm said would also continue to recruit fee-based financial advisors.

The deal puts two Putnam Lovell principals -- Minnick and Daniel Kang -- onto PowellJohnson's board of directors. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  

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