In April 2015, Johnny Lang, Tammie King and Nancy Loar left Morgan Stanley to create WealthPlus, joining the BankPlus Wealth Management Group. Their desire was to recreate an environment much like their early days in the business.

Johnny began his career in October 1987 in Meridian, MS with J.C. Bradford, a regional brokerage firm headquartered in Nashville. He eventually became a Partner in the firm, and ran offices in Meridian and Jackson in Mississippi, and offices in Raleigh and Smithfield in North Carolina. The late Jimmy Bradford, the second-generation Bradford, was his mentor, and one of the classiest people ever in this profession. Jimmy had a very simple philosophy---do what is best for the client at all times, and the firm and advisor will do just fine.

Sadly, Jimmy developed cancer in 1999, and the firm became a takeover target, eventually selling out to UBS/Paine Webber in 2001. Johnny chose to join A.G. Edwards & Sons instead, another great family-run firm headquartered in St. Louis. That move proved to be a true blessing, as it was at A.G. Edwards that he met up with Tammie and Nancy. Tammie had been the branch manager’s assistant and eventual partner, and she sets the standard for world-class client service. Nancy had been trained by Tammie when she first joined A.G. Edwards, and the two of them have been spoiling clients ever since.

A.G. Edwards sold out to Wachovia in 2007, which was immediately bought out by Wells Fargo. Rather than go through that very complicated merger, Johnny chose to join Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley was one of the premier wirehouses then, and became the largest in the U.S. when they bought Smith Barney in 2012. In retrospect the move to Morgan Stanley was a mistake; it is a great firm, but a very different culture than J.C. Bradford. BankPlus senior management approached Johnny in 2014, offering an opportunity for he and his team to create their own identity within the BankPlus Wealth Management infrastructure, and WealthPlus opened April 2015.