Buy any dip in Tesla's stock because of its long-term growth potential, says a wealth manager at a $1.2 billion firm

• Tesla will continue to lead the industry, a managing director with Vios Advisors said on CNBC.
• With that, investors should buy the stock any time there's a dip, the investor said.
• Tesla shares fell slightly Wednesday, adding to the year-to-date loss.

Traders should buy Tesla any time there's an opportunity, according to one investor.

Michael Bapis, managing director of a private-wealth management firm with $1.2 billion in assets under management, said on CNBC's "Trading Nation," that Tesla is going to be the long-term leader in the industry.

"Any time you get the chance to buy it, buy it," Bapis, the managing director of Vios Advisors at Rockefeller Capital Management, said on the show. Bapis and Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker led by Elon Musk slumped almost 1% Wednesday, adding to a year-to-date decline of about 15%. On the show, Bapis said the shares likely ran up "too far, too fast" last year amid market volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, institutions that don't have the stock in their portfolio are "going to be questioned: 'Why?'" he said, adding that on top of the technology the company is developing, sales and earnings are both "growing rapidly."

Last week, Tesla reported sales of its vehicles in China jumped 29% month-over-month in May. Tuesday, Mizuho analysts reiterated their bullish sentiment on the company and said the stock has room to rally 15% this year, CNBC reported.

Bapis said the difficult barriers to entry in the electric-vehicle market will keep Tesla - which has about 24% market share - on top.

Several electric-vehicle makers have entered the public markets via special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, in the last year. The newly public companies include Canoo and Lordstown Motors, which have both slumped overall year-to-date but have rallied in recent weeks amid a meme-stock frenzy driven by retail traders.

"Unless someone comes in and breaks through the difficult barriers to entry, you're going to continue to see this stock grow long term," Bapis said of Tesla.