Miracle Mile Advisors LLC has named Bruce Milam as its first CEO in the company’s 15-year history.
Milam joins the firm, a Sawtelle–based registered investment advisory, after serving nine years as the chief operating officer of Seattle-based Freestone Capital Management LLC, during which time the firm’s assets tripled. Prior to that, he served as a group director at HBK Capital Management LLC, where he was responsible for building the firm’s operations and technology infrastructure.
“I’m excited to be part of a firm that has a very clear commitment to clients and a clear commitment to growth,” Milam said. “It’s the right time for me, and certainly the right time for Miracle Mile, to be making this investment into professional leadership.”
Miracle Mile Advisors offers financial planning and investment management to high net-worth individuals, families, business owners, and institutions; it manages $4.7 billion in assets. The firm’s advising team has received numerous industry awards, including recognition from Barron’s, the Financial Times and Forbes as one of the fastest-growing RIAs in the country.
Milam’s appointment comes after a significant private equity investment from Corsair Capital LLC in September of last year. Corsair Capital acquired the ownership stake in Miracle Mile from Merchant Investment Management LLC, which had initially invested in the firm in late 2020 and supported its first four acquisitions.
Corsair has deployed $12 billion in financial services and infrastructure since its inception in 1992. In the partnership announcement, Corsair committed to supporting Miracle Mile’s wealth advisory platform with its fintech expertise. Almost a year into the deal, Milam reiterated the importance of its financial backing for growing Miracle Mile’s wealth management product.
“They’ve been additive in every way, but they have not made any wholesale changes to the business,” he said.
In conjunction with the transaction, Miracle Mile purchased Karp Capital Management Corp., its largest acquisition to date. The deal propelled Miracle Mile’s total assets under management to more than $4 billion and increased its employee count to 70.
According to Milam, Miracle Mile’s growth involves a two-pronged strategy. Organic growth entails attracting new clients, while inorganic growth involves mergers, acquisitions and hiring advisors. The firm aims to attract senior advisors with established books of business, as well as younger growth-oriented advisors.
Additionally, Miracle Mile is actively seeking strategic partnerships with CPA and insurance firms to expand its market presence. According to Milam, bringing a variety of wealth management services in house pushes the firm beyond the advisor-centric model.
“Understanding and approaching all elements of a wealth advisory is becoming table stakes in our industry,” Milam said. “I believe Miracle Mile does it exceptionally well. We want to be experts and in-house everything that we believe would be our value-add for those aspects of wealth management.”
While Milam assumes the role of CEO, the rest of Miracle Mile’s leadership team will largely remain in place. This includes the firm’s five managing partners, chiefs of compliance, operations, and investments and the recently appointed chairman of the board of directors Ted Bloomberg. Matthew Granski, formerly the president of Miracle Mile, will now serve as the firm’s chief operating officer.
Milam will work primarily out of Los Angeles but will direct a growing national operation with offices in New York, San Francisco, San Diego and Portland, Ore. While the firm expands its service offerings with mergers and acquisitions, Milam reiterated the importance of maintaining its founding culture.
“We want to commit to grow thoughtfully,” Milam said. “We don’t want to dilute our culture, we want to enhance it through growth.”
