 The firm was founded in 2002 by Andrew Linbeck, Haag Sherman, Jeremy Radcliffe and John Blaisdell.In 2003, the Sanders Morris Harris Group (SMHG) secured a 50% stake in the firm, and Salient combined its assets with SMHG's Pinnacle Management & Trust Co. SMHG sold its ownership interests back to Salient in 2008.In 2015, Salient was the third largest Houston-area money management firm
ranked by local assets under management at $21.5 billion.