James E. Thomas, Jr.
Managing Director and Partner
Jim Thomas runs the Branch Operations and Administration Group of Cary Street Partners. With over 35 years of experience in building successful wealth management businesses, his clients are the financial advisors of the firm itself. At Cary Street Partners, he counts amongst his most rewarding roles his ability to facilitate their service to their clients.
As a young lawyer, Jim observed scores of entrepreneurs in the processes of starting, building and eventually selling businesses. During this time he noted these entrepreneurs knew everything about their businesses, but little about anything else – including how to select passive investments. Watching these hard-working capitalists lose much of their money motivated Jim to begin his career in the securities industry and, in 1976, he joined the Atlanta office of The Robinson-Humphrey Company.
“My father was one of the first M&A lawyers in the South, and one of the first international M&A lawyers in the country. He taught me to appreciate the closely held company and its entrepreneurial owner. Almost everything I have done since has been in the service of the entrepreneur,” recounts Jim.
For seventeen years, he led Robinson-Humphrey’s national and international financial planning efforts for sellers of closely held companies and other entrepreneurial clients. His clients spanned the country, as well as Great Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Jim then joined J.C. Bradford and Company as Managing Partner of its Atlanta/Buckhead operation. There he built a fully integrated retail and institutional investment brokerage operation and helped found Bradford’s only investment banking office outside its headquarters. The combined businesses were the leading operations in the firm until its sale to PaineWebber.
Subsequently, Jim joined Wheat First Union, which later became Wachovia Securities, as a regional manager. While there, Jim opened regional and branch offices in Atlanta and throughout the southeast. After the merger of First Union and Wachovia Banks, Jim formed his own firm, StillPoint Advisors. The firm began the trend towards family office services for clients of leading investment advisors. StillPoint was sold in 2006, with assets under management or advisement of over two billion dollars, whereupon Jim joined Cary Street Partners.
Jim has his Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Georgia (1972, magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from The University of Georgia School of Law (1975, cum laude). Jim lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Leslie Stagmaier Thomas, a well-known artist in the South. Jim and Leslie have two grown daughters and a grandson.
Individual Wealth Management Team
Tel: 404.974.4986
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