People Moves

Summary Of Industry Moves In The Americas: October 2014

Eliane Chavagnon Editor - Family Wealth Report November 3, 2014

Summary Of Industry Moves In The Americas: October 2014

A summary of industry moves in the Americas during the month of October 2014.

HighTower's Pagnato Karp, founded by Paul Pagnato, expanded its family office solutions by partnering with Hannah Grove, who will serve as a client strategist.

Grove is the author of 11 books and a global expert on private wealth and the formation and operation of family offices.

Pagnato Karp oversees around $2 billion in client assets and concentrates on serving founders of privately-held businesses (with an emphasis on pre-sale planning). It also offers custom stock portfolios, indexes and direct private investment opportunities.

BNY Wealth Management appointed Mark Hathaway as senior wealth director in its Los Angeles, CA, office, reporting to Lawrence Miles, regional president.

Hathaway was previously a managing director with Apheta Business Management, where he oversaw family offices, legacy planning and investments. Prior to that he was executive vice president of business development for Cascais Group, an international life insurance distributor in Latin America.

JHS Capital Advisors, a registered securities broker-dealer and registered investment advisor, appointed Paul Probolus as vice president of investments and financial advisor in Osterville, MA.

Probolus, who manages more than $50 million in client assets, specializes in investment management and retirement planning services, but also assists with tax and legacy/inheritance issues.

Prior to joining JHS, he worked for nine years as an investment services officer at Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, having spent ten years at Cape Cod Bank & Trust as vice president and senior financial advisor before that.

Wilmington Trust named Anthony Roth as chief investment officer, succeeding Rex Macey, who the firm confirmed was appointed as chief allocation officer.

Roth is based at Wilmington Trust’s headquarters in Wilmington, DE, concentrating on asset allocation, manager research and portfolio construction strategies.

Most recently, Roth was CIO at Aquitaine Management in New York, having previously served as CIO at UBS Wealth Management Americas, where he founded the ultra high net worth chief investment office.

Earlier in his career, Roth was founder and co-head of the advisory services division at Bear, Stearns & Co, as well as director of the family wealth group at Sanford C Bernstein & Co and a tax attorney at Cleary Gottlieb.

Wilmington Trust also hired David Bloom – latterly of JP Morgan Private Bank – as managing director and senior private client advisor within the firm’s wealth advisory division in Villanova, PA.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Luis Castellanos as a managing director for business development in Florida, reporting to regional president Joe Fernandez.In his new position, Castellanos will lead the growth of the wealth management business with a team of wealth directors based in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens.

With over 20 years of experience in financial services, Castellanos was most recently managing director at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch banking organizations, responsible for the development and management of the firm’s structured lending business for high net worth clients in Florida and international markets. Previously, he managed the credit and banking business at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management in Latin America.

Twin Focus Capital Partners, a Boston, MA-based family office advisory boutique, brought in Mark Alaimo as director of client advisory. The firm declined to comment on whether the role is a new one or if Alaimo replaces anyone.

Before joining TwinFocus, Alaimo served as a principal within a fee-only wealth management firm and as a tax manager at a regional CPA firm.

Philadelphia, PA-based Janney Montgomery Scott expanded in downtown Maryland by launching a new office in Bel Air.

Janney will initially relocate The Goles Investment Group to help launch the Bel Air office, as well as recruit new financial advisors from the Maryland area.

Members of The Goles Investment Group include: John Goles, senior vice president of wealth management; Steven DeBoy, financial advisor; Patrick Goles, account executive; and Carol Palitti, private client assistant.

Dominic Cotrano was appointed as a wealth management advisor at The Private Client Reserve of US Bank in Chicago, IL.

Prior to joining the PCR, Cotrano was a wealth management senior advisor and private banker at MB Financial. Additionally, Cotrano worked as part of US Bank’s private client group and in various roles at Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and LaSalle Bank.

Last week, Thanh Nguyen was hired as a vice president and private banker at the PCR in Denver, CO. Nguyen specializes in creating custom strategies for personal and business lending and deposit needs. She began her career in the banking and financial services industry in 1998 and was latterly a private banker at Front Range Bank.

Mariner Holdings, the parent company of Mariner Wealth Advisors and Montage Investments, plans to hire around 60 professionals on top of adding over 100 advisors and business development consultants over the next six months.

Job openings are located throughout the US and include positions at Mariner Holdings, Mariner Wealth Advisors, Montage Investments and other affiliates.

The need to hire has been driven by the firm's recent growth, it said, having this year taken assets under management from $27 billion to $35 billion at end-September, while simultaneously making around 100 hires.

Charlie Vieth and Steve Zients joined HighTower Network's Fiduciary Plan Advisors group as managing directors in Baltimore, MD.

The 401(k) practice joined HighTower Network, which is aimed at breakaway advisors, in August 2014.

“In six years, the practice has grown from serving the Baltimore and DC areas to advising clients all over the country on the challenges and complexities associated with providing corporate retirement plans,” said Jania Stout, chief executive of Fiduciary Plan Advisors, at the time.

Membership in the HighTower Network gives the team – which focuses on providing solutions to corporate plan sponsors – the infrastructure to build a national footprint, Stout added.


JHS Capital Advisors, a registered securities broker-dealer and RIA, appointed Michael O’Toole as vice president of investments and financial advisor in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

O’Toole – latterly of RBC Wealth Management – specializes in helping investors generate income through investments in municipal bonds, and currently oversees $30 million in client assets.

Paul Veith joined Northern Trust as senior vice president and senior investment advisor, responsible for investment management services in the Mid-Atlantic states, as well as for the management of “large, complex” investment client relationships in the region.

Veith was previously managing director and senior client advisor at Rockefeller & Company, where he opened the firm’s Washington, DC, office and led a team of professionals serving high net worth and ultra high net worth clients.

In his new Washington, DC-based role at Northern Trust, he reports to Brett Rees, head of Northern Trust Wealth Management’s Mid-Atlantic region.

Commonwealth Financial Network added Nelson & Nelson Wealth Management of Camarillo, CA, to its roster of independent financial advisors.

Formerly affiliated with LPL Financial, Lance Nelson brought with him $92 million in client assets.

Founded in 1979, Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, is a US privately-held independent broker-dealer/RIA with headquarters in Waltham, MA, and San Diego, CA.

The firm support some 1,487 independent advisors serving clients as registered representatives, investment advisor representatives and registered investment advisors, as well as through hybrid service models.

In a similar move in February, UICCU Wealth Management of Iowa City, IA, and Cedar Rapids, IA, was brought in - also from LPL.

National Philanthropic Trust, the US donor-advised fund charitable organization, added Rosalyn McPherson, Paul Schreiber and Suzanne Yoon to its board of trustees.

McPherson is a former NPT board member who has been reappointed to a third term; Schreiber is of the global law firm Shearman & Sterling and the founder of its investment fund and asset management group; and Yoon is a Chicago, IL-based private equity investment professional.

Valley Wealth joined the United Capital Financial Advisers network in Modesto, CA, with $320 million in assets under management for some 450 households.

Valley Wealth is led by founders Jeff Burrow and Jason Gordo, who joined United Capital as managing directors and brought with them a team of seven with wealth advisory, administration and client services duties.

In addition to building Valley Wealth, Gordo and Burrow founded FlexScore, as chief executive and president respectively. FlexScore uses gamification to “reward consumers for good financial decisions, culminating in a score for financial health,” United Capital, which has adopted FlexScore, said.

JHS Capital Advisors appointed David Palkovitz as a financial advisor, working with The Braddock Group in Columbia, SC.

The group provides asset management as well as philanthropic and legacy planning services to high net worth families.

James Wiener was named as senior executive vice president and chief risk officer at BNY Mellon, taking over the reins from Brian Rogan, who is retiring at the end of the year.

As of November 24, Wiener will oversee the firm's compliance and credit, operational and market risk functions. He will continue to build the company's risk management capabilities including integrating enterprise risk data, reporting, analytics, modeling and strategy efforts.

Wiener will report to Gerald Hassell, BNY Mellon's chairman and chief executive, and the risk committee of the board of directors.  He will also serve on the executive committee, which oversees day-to-day operations.

Wiener joined BNY Mellon from the international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman Group, where he was senior partner and leader of the North American public policy practice and a member of the firm's management committee.

Financial advisors Jesse Clinton and Phillip Pedrena left Merrill Lynch to join the independent wealth advisory firm Snowden Lane Partners as partners and managing directors.

The Clinton Pedrena Group operate from Snowden Lane’s New York City headquarters.

Focused on corporate executive compensation, the group targets hedging and asset protection, diversification, monetization and liquidity, tax minimization and portfolio optimization.

BNY Mellon hired former Morgan Stanley advisor Merryll McElwain as a wealth director in Los Angeles.

“As we continue to expand our Los Angeles-based sales team as part of BNY Mellon’s two-year strategic growth initiative, we are focused on hiring exceptional financial professionals with planning backgrounds who reside in the important San Fernando Valley region,” said Lawrence Miles, regional president to whom McElwain reports.

In her previous role at Morgan Stanley, McElwain managed client relationships across areas including financial planning, investment management, lending services and insurance solutions.

State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street Corporation, appointed Lori Heinel as chief portfolio strategist – a new role at the firm.

Heinel will oversee a global team of 20 investment professionals which transmit information about investment strategies and solutions to prospects, clients and consultants.

She most recently served as chief investment strategist at OppenheimerFunds, where she oversaw product management, product development and investment thought leadership. Before that, she was head of investment solutions at Citi Private Bank, leading a team responsible for working with ultra high net worth clients, family offices, private foundations and institutional clients.

Before Citi, Heinel led the global investment products group at SEI Investments. She began her career as an investment banking analyst and trader for Credit Suisse First Boston.

The Zero Alpha Group, the US alliance of independent wealth management firms, added its eighth member in the shape of Tucson, AZ-headquartered TCI Wealth Advisors.

TCI Wealth Advisors has $1.7 billion in asset under management, bringing the network's total AuM to $14 billion for more than 8,500 clients.

ZAG also added ten international advisory firms to “observe its collaborative model,” it said: “The group of international advisors is exploring an international advisor network designed to share ideas that work cross-border.”

Also this year, ZAG formed a new leadership team, comprised of senior leaders from each firm.

“This leadership group complements the existing model which includes a founder group and cross-functional teams that form to serve various aspects of the independent advisory business,” ZAG said.

US Bank Wealth Management hired Thanh Nguyen as a vice president and private banker at its high net worth Private Client Reserve in Denver, CO.

Nguyen specializes in creating custom strategies for personal and business lending and deposit needs. She began her career in the banking and financial services industry in 1998 and was latterly a private banker at Front Range Bank.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management brought in Jason Dudley from Morgan Stanley as a director and regional executive at the firm's private client services office in Atlanta, GA.

Dudley reports to Haig Ariyan, managing director and co-head of wealth management in the Americas.

He most recently served as vice president and complex business development manager at Morgan Stanley, managing the sales force throughout Georgia.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Dudley was a senior resident director managing Merrill Lynch’s branch in Cumming, GA, responsible for all day-to-day operations.

Halbert Hargrove, a fiduciary investment management and wealth advisory firm, appointed Elliott Hollingsworth as regional director, based in the firm's Long Beach, CA, headquarters.

Hollingsworth works with high net worth individuals and families, having previously worked at Oakwood Capital and Merrill Lynch.

Halbert Hargrove said it achieved 81 per cent asset management growth within a 12-month time period in August 2014; the firm has $4.08 billion assets under management.


California-based City National Bank appointed J Peter Barbara to lead private client services in downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley and the South Bay.

Barbara is a senior vice president and manager with more than 25 years of wealth management experience. He was most recently a wealth advisor at Wells Fargo Private Bank in Manhattan Beach, and before that a director for the high net worth group at Citi Private Bank in Los Angeles.

At City National Bank, Barbara will lead a group of private bankers and advisors providing advice and services in investment management, customized credit, depository and cash management, estate planning, trust and wealth transfer management, and retirement planning for HNW families, professional services firms and non-profit organizations.

Wells Fargo Advisors and Merrill Lynch hired from Ameriprise and UBS respectively.

Wells Fargo Advisors hired Zelda Benson in Seal Beach, CA, from Ameriprise Financial Services, where she managed more than $132 million in client assets. She reports to South Bay complex manager, Richard Jacobs.

James Harris also joined Wells Fargo Advisors in Albany, GA, from Merrill Lynch, along with registered client associate Nanette Brimberry. At Merrill, Harris managed over $102 million in client assets. In his new role he reports to Albany branch manager, Vic Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Kanwar Singh, Rajeev Rathi and Steve Coleman joined the Merrill Lynch Private Banking and Investment Group in Chicago, IL, as a team – all formerly with UBS. Together they manage $500 million and a production approaching $5 million.

Northern Trust recruited Claudia Sangster from CTC Consulting | myCFO as director of family education and governance within its wealth management unit.

At CTC Consulting | myCFO, Sangster was director of philanthropy, estate and trust services, working typically with ultra high net worth families with $25 million in investable assets or $100 million in net worth.

In her new Los Angeles, CA-based role, she will work with clients, their advisors and Northern Trust wealth planning colleagues in identifying and establishing educational programs and governance structures for multi-generational families.

Baird added two financial advisors in Scottsdale, AZ: Todd Reeg, as managing director and financial advisor, and Marc Miller as senior vice president and financial advisor.

Reeg began his career as a financial advisor in 1999 at A G Edwards, staying with the firm after it became part of Wells Fargo.

Miller also joined from Wells Fargo, where he had been a financial advisor since 1999, having also started with the former A G Edwards. Prior to that, he owned a CPA practice for 20 years.

In July, McAdams Wright Ragen, an investment firm headquartered in Seattle, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Baird Financial Group (Baird), the holding company of Robert W Baird & Co.

CNB Bank, which recently launched private banking operations, promoted Andrew Franson to wealth and asset operations officer – a role in which he will manage the daily operations of the wealth and asset management department.

Franson joined CNB Bank as a member of the firm's management training program in 2004. He then became a client service representative before being promoted in 2010 to trust operations manager.

CNB's new private banking division will offer “enhanced customization and personal service to CNB’s exclusive clientele,” the firm said when the unit launched.

Annex Wealth Management, a Wisconsin-based investment advisory firm, appointed Richard Behrendt as director of estate planning services.

Prior to joining Annex Wealth Management, Behrendt served as senior vice president and director of estate planning at Robert W Baird & Co in Milwaukee, WI.

In that role, he was an estate planning resource for over 700 Baird financial advisors in the US and their high net worth clients.  Before Baird, he spent 12 years as an estate tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service, auditing estates with $10-$50 million in net worth or more. He also audited gift and fiduciary income tax returns.

Gold Bullion International named former World Gold Council executive Bob Alderman as executive vice president and head of wealth management.

Alderman, who has 27 years of experience in the wealth and asset management sectors, is responsible for business development and global distribution of the firm's precious metals solutions to advisors and clients across all wealth management channels.

At the WGC, he was managing director for the retail business in the US and Europe, responsible for creating and sustaining demand for gold in the wealth management channel.

Besides his stint at the WGC, Alderman has also worked at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch.

Bessemer Trust appointed Stephen Kutz as managing director and regional director for the Pacific Northwest, based in Seattle.

Kutz was previously managing director and regional executive at JP Morgan Private Bank for the Pacific Northwest, also based in Seattle and working with ultra high net worth clients, among others.

In his role at Bessemer, Kutz is responsible for developing client relationships and managing advisory teams serving clients in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. He will report to Jeff Glowacki, managing director and western region head.

Bank of America's US Trust made 26 hires across 12 states in the US over the last two months.

Northeast

In Boston, MA, Andrew Janfaza joined as a private client advisor from HighVista Strategies; Anne Beaudoin joined as a personal tax manager from KPMG; and Shaun Stimpson joined as market executive from Morgan Stanley.

Meanwhile, Janelle Archondo stepped into the New York office as a PCA from Citi Private Bank.

In New Jersey, Ted Westhelle was hired in Florham Park as a PCA from Northwestern Mutual; Joseph Danowsky also joined in Florham Park as a PCA from Barclays Wealth and Investment Management; and Christopher Parillo was recruited in Glenrock as a PCA from JP Morgan.

In Connecticut, Ann McGowan joined the Hartford office as a private client manager from BNY Mellon Wealth Management, and Nicholas Riloff was hired in Hartford as a senior trust officer from J N Scheibeler & Associates.

Southeast

In the Sunshine State, Teresa Radzinski joined the Jacksonville, FL, office as a PCA from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Labino joined the Baltimore, MD, office as a senior trust officer from UBS Financial Services while Julio Lacayo joined in Chevy Chase, MD, office as a PCA from Surgpro.

In Washington, DC, Stephen Muir, Chris Carr and Christie Spiers were all appointed as PCAs from PNC Wealth Management, JP Morgan and Cornerstone Capital Group, respectively.

Central

As for the central region, Timothy Fitzgibbon joined the Chicago, IL, office as a regional trust executive from JP Morgan Chase Bank, where Lauren MacDonald also was named as a market philanthropic director.

In Kansas, Rhonda Harkins was hired in Wichita as a private client manager from Beechcraft Corporation, while, in Virginia, Joseph Lipscomb joined the Norfolk office as a senior trust officer from The Salvation Army NCV.

West

Notably, US Trust made six hires in California: Ross Benson joined the Los Angeles, CA, office as a PCA from Bank of New York; Robert Kacer joined in Newport Beach as a market trust director from Wells Fargo; Nina Sokol joined in San Diego as a PCA from Smith Barney; John Miller joined in Newport Beach as a PCA from Merrill Lynch; Stephen Ross stepped into the San Diego office as market investment director from BlackRock; and Deanna Yu joined in Los Angeles as a private client manager.

Lastly, in Washington David McGinnis was hired in Seattle as a private client manager from Citi Private Bank.

US Trust is part of the global wealth and investment management unit of Bank of America. The firm employs more than 4,000 professionals and has 140 offices in 32 states.

Gulland Padfield, the consultancy operating in fields such as wealth management and private banking, appointed Silvia Velásquez as a partner, based in Bogotá, Colombia. She will be working with clients in banking, insurance and professional services.

Velásquez has more than 16 years’ international expertise in Latin America and Europe. She specializes in client development and marketing strategies and has worked with professional service firms in Latin America.

Prior to joining Gulland Padfield, Velásquez was marketing director at Prieto Carrizosa, the Latin America law firm. She built and led a team which delivered marketing, communications and client service support to partners and client-facing teams.

Before returning to Bogotá in 2002, Velásquez was based in London for 12 years where she worked mainly in attracting new clients and introducing new products to markets for a variety of industries.

Geller & Company, a financial advisory and wealth management firm, appointed Christopher Judge as a tax manager within Geller Family Office Services.

Judge will work closely with Tricia Levin, managing director in charge of tax at Geller Family Office Services, as well as with other members of the family office and wealth advisory leadership team.

He joined Geller & Company from Ernst & Young, where he was a senior manager within the personal financial services practice. Prior to Ernst & Young, Judge worked in the private client services group and corporate tax division of Arthur Andersen. Before that, he served for four years as a director within the client reporting segment of Morgan Stanley's ultra high net worth division.

Dessy Arteaga is joining Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in January 2015 as a managing director and senior private banker, as the firm deepens its footprint in Latin America.

Arteaga will be tasked with strengthening the bank's relationships with ultra high net worth clients in Mexico. Based in New York, she will report to Felipe Godard, head of wealth management in Latin America.

“As we expand our wealth management offering in Latin America, we are committed to attracting the most talented professionals in the industry to serve our clients,” said Godard. “We are thrilled that Dessy has joined the Bank, as she will play a critical role in further expanding our platform and deepening our local relationships in Mexico.”

Arteaga will join from JP Morgan Private Bank, where she was most recently a managing director and senior private banker in New York, specializing in UHNW individuals and families in Mexico. Before that, she spent nearly 20 years in Caracas, Venezuela, at various firms including JP Morgan, Banco Union and Citigroup.

US Bank appointed Jack Frencho as a wealth management advisor at its high net worth Private Client Reserve in Columbus, OH. 

Previous to joining the PCR, Frencho was a vice president and relationship manager at Key Private Bank, where he developed financial solutions for business owners, corporate executives and high net worth families.

He has held prior roles as vice president at Fifth Third Bancorp and Merrill Lynch.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Carolyn Simon as wealth director for business development in the New Jersey region, reporting to managing director Katia Friend.

Simon’s hire is part of the strategic expansion of BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s staff in key regions including the greater New York wealth market, which is the largest in the US. New Jersey, which the research firm Spectrum ranks as the fifth largest state in millionaire households, represents a large growth opportunity for the firm, it said.

Simon joined BNY Mellon from PNC Wealth Management, where she was vice president and senior relationship manager. Prior to that, she was a financial advisor and portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Earlier, she held portfolio management roles with institutional and high net worth clients at US Trust, Citibank Global Asset Management and Fiduciary Trust Company International.

New Jersey-based Glovista Investments, an investment manager specializing in global macro and emerging market strategies, appointed Robert Slutz as chief executive.

It is unclear who Slutz replaced in this role.

Prior to Glovista, Slutz was chief operating officer and chief financial officer of a global macro hedge fund (Forum Asset Management). He has also served as president of Nile Capital Management, a mutual fund manager focused on investing in Africa. He co-founded Vega Asset Management in 1996 and traded the funds managed by Vega which was spun out of Banco Santander in July 1998. From 2003 to 2008 he served as chairman of the Vega Funds and held management, operations and marketing responsibilities.

Additionally, Slutz served as CEO of ProximaAlfa Investments (USA), a $2 billion fund incubation business initiated by Vega. He began his career at Marine Midland Bank in 1984 and, after six years in credit, investment banking and derivatives trading, moved to Banco Santander's proprietary trading desk - first in New York and then in Madrid.

Fidelity Investments appointed Abigail Johnson as chief executive, succeeding her father Edward Johnson, ending years of speculation about who will take over at the top of the mutual fund giant.

Abigail Johnson will continue as president and Edward Johnson will remain as chairman of the board.

"Abby Johnson has agreed to become chief executive of Fidelity, reflecting a further step forward in our leadership succession plan. Abby will retain her role of president and I will continue to serve as chairman of the board," Edward Johnson said.

"Along with our senior team, we will work together to strengthen Fidelity's industry leadership and to innovate in ways that enhance the experience we provide to our customers."

Johnson’s promotion was part of a wider management shake-up that saw Bill Byrnes step down from the role of board member to become board member emeritus. Meanwhile, Gerry McGraw, president of Fidelity Institutional, and Mike Wilens, president of Fidelity Enterprise Services, became directors of the company.

Abigail Johnson began career in the company as an equity research analyst in 1988. She has held several leadership positions within the firm, overseeing asset management, retail and institutional brokerage, retirement and benefits services.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Gregory Lentini as a senior wealth director for business development in Garden City, NY, reporting to managing director Katia Friend.

Lentini was latterly a vice president and private banker at JP Morgan, where he led a team of professionals in investment management, wealth advisory, capital advisory and banking. Previously, he was a principal at a private real estate investment firm in New York. In a prior role, he also worked at Morgan Stanley in New York, Tokyo and London.

The appointment was part of BNY Mellon's ambitious wealth management expansion in the New York Tri-State area and Long Island, which itself is a part of a broader national recruitment drive.

San Francisco, CA-based GenCap Portfolio Management, a boutique investment management firm serving individuals and RIAs, joined the Sanctuary Wealth Services network.

Sanctuary Wealth Services, led by Jeff Spears, helps individuals and RIAs design, build and run their own firms. Sanctuary will provide GenCap with strategic, operational, compliance and marketing support.

GenCap has 23 advisors and over $2.2 billion in assets under management.

The firm's four portfolios are: equity income risk managed portfolio for income; cash capture portfolio for capital appreciation and income; focused equity portfolio for capital appreciation; and focused equity risk managed portfolio for capital appreciation and hedging.

RBC Wealth Management hired Deborah Sullivan as a senior vice president and financial advisor, and Christine Saitta as vice president and financial advisor, in Sewickley, PA.

Sullivan and Saitta joined RBC after spending seven years at Morgan Stanley.  The team has $213 million in assets under management and $1.7 million in production.

So far this fiscal year, RBC Wealth Management has recruited 80 financial advisors with approximately $6 billion in assets and $50 million in production.

Ridgewood Private Equity Partners, an investment firm focused on energy-centric real asset private equity strategies, appointed Michael Albrecht as managing director from Allstate Investments.

Albrecht was latterly acting global head of infrastructure and real assets – a role he took over from Ross Posner, who left Allstate to lead RPEP.

Before joining Allstate, Albrecht served as senior acquisitions officer for JP Morgan Asset Management's Global Infrastructure Investments Private Equity Fund.

Albrecht also worked at Altrinsic Global Advisors, a $5+ billion family of equity funds, where he led global investment coverage of several energy and real asset areas. He began his career at RBC Dain Rauscher and Citigroup in the private wealth management and equity research divisions, respectively.


EP Wealth Advisors hired Charles Daguerre Alvaré as a vice president and financial advisor.

Alvaré started his career in financial services as an advisor at Merrill Lynch in Beverly Hills, CA, in 2005. Prior to joining EP Wealth, he was a financial advisor at UBS in Century City.

EP Wealth Advisors is an independent RIA firm located in Torrance, CA, providing financial planning, wealth management and investment management services.

Glenmede, the investment and wealth management firm, opened an office in Washington, DC, while appointing Michael Hickey as regional director there.

Hickey reports to Christopher Poch, director of business development who joined in February. He is latterly of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, where he worked with families, private foundations, not-for-profit organizations and companies.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management named Lee Hutter as head of wealth management for the US western region, based in Los Angeles, CA – a new role at the firm.

Hutter, a managing director, reports to Haig Ariyan and Chip Packard, co-heads of wealth management in the Americas.

Hutter is latterly of JP Morgan Private Bank, where he was a managing director and a private banker for over eight years, working with ultra high net worth individuals including financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and families.

Before his stint at JP Morgan, Hutter was a principal at the boutique asset management firm SkyBridge Capital, responsible for raising capital from West Coast investors including HNW individuals, foundations and endowments.

Aequitas Capital hired Brian Rice as executive vice president and partner, as well as president of Aequitas’ wealth management division, reporting to the firm's chief executive Bob Jesenik.

Rice will drive the growth initiatives for Aequitas' wealth management platform, including the recently-launched Aequitas Capital Partners, and Aequitas’ holding company for acquiring independent RIA firms, Aspen Grove.

He previously worked at KeyBank, where for the past 12 years he was regional president for the states of Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Prior to joining KeyBank, he was vice president and market area manager at Wells Fargo in Portland, OR. He is currently a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Portland branch board of directors.

Daron Smith rejoined California-based Advisor Software, a provider of cloud platforms for the wealth management industry, as executive vice president of global sales.

Smith, who served from 2003 to 2011 as a vice president at the firm, has over two decades of experience holding senior roles in the technology field.

The firm told Family Wealth Report that Smith assumed the responsibilities of a position he has held in the past at the firm, but will be working under a new title.

Prior to returning to Advisor Software, he worked at the software company SAP, where he was responsible for strategic global accounts in Silicon Valley.  His prior leadership roles were at Appcelerator, Clarify and Bloomberg.

Oppenheimer Asset Management, a unit of Oppenheimer Holdings, named managing director Anusha Rodriguez as head of the firm's alternative investments group.

Rodriguez will lead Oppenheimer's alternative investment team, responsible for product management, manager research and portfolio construction. She will report to John Blau, president of Oppenheimer Asset Management.

Prior to her current role, Rodriguez worked as part of the alternative investments group's hedge fund research team. Before joining Oppenheimer, she held similar roles at Citi, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Four former Wells Fargo advisors in Kansas City launched NovaR Wealth Advisors via Dynasty Financial Partners, which provides integrated investment services and technology.

Timothy Rodgers, principal; Keith Osborne, vice president and financial advisor; Brian Fry, client services associate; and Billi Wood, office manager, collectively advise on over $400 million in client assets.

“We are deeply committed to the Kansas City market,” said Rodgers.

NovaR Wealth selected Fidelity Investments to provide custody services; PKS to provide brokerage services; and MarketCounsel as counsel for the initial launch and to manage its regulatory compliance program.

Gratus Capital Management, an independent RIA in Atlanta, GA, joined the Focus partnership with over $800 million in client assets.

Gratus provides investment and wealth management services to clients in Atlanta as well as Palm Beach, Sarasota and Naples, FL. The firm was founded in 2006 by Hank McLarty (who worked at Morgan Stanley) and provides wealth management services to predominantly high net worth clients.

Focus Financial Partners is a US partnership of independent wealth management firms.

“As a partner firm, Focus provides us with the capital and deal expertise to grow through strategic acquisitions, while still allowing us to maintain our boutique service model and focus on our clients,” McLarty said.

Gratus has ten employees, including McLarty and three other advisors. They have over 100 years of combined investment and wealth management experience. 

Raymond James made several appointments to reflect geographic realignments within the private client group at its traditional employee broker-dealer, Raymond James & Associates.

Firstly, Great Lakes divisional director Bill Roney is retiring at the end of the year. His successor, Dominic Prioli - who has worked alongside Roney for ten years - is being promoted to lead the Great Lakes region, which will become part of an expanded Midwestern division under the current and continuing leadership of John Kuklenski.

Meanwhile, the Oregon and Washington states will become part of a renamed western division, including 11 states spanning Louisiana to California. This division will continue to be led by Patrick Allison, assisted by regional director Tommy Orr and a yet-to-be-named regional director in California.

The southern division will continue to be led by Dick Ferguson, while his co-head Bill Geary returns to production and will head the Jackson, MS, complex. Jim Hamilton, Van Thompson and Michael Turnbough will continue as regional directors in this division.

Within Ira Federer’s eastern division, the coastal region is being expanded to include much of western Florida and will be led by the newly-appointed regional director Patrick O’Connor. O'Connor most recently led the firm’s wealth, retirement and portfolio solutions group. (A successor for this role has yet to be revealed). Tom Galvin will continue to focus on the North Atlantic region within this division.

“These changes are in keeping with our efforts to ‘stay small while growing bigger,’” said Tash Elwyn, president of Raymond James & Associates' private client group.

Geller & Company, the financial advisory and wealth management firm, added Barbara Parker to its multi-family office and wealth advisory business as an investment management CFO.

Parker will serve high net worth clients and their private, public and non-profit businesses.

This is a new role at the firm, it told Family Wealth Report.

She joined after having held similar roles at financial organizations such as Sageview Capital, where she was chief financial officer, chief compliance officer and a member of the firm’s operating committee.

Middleburg Wealth Management, a member of the Washington Wealth Management network, named William Francavilla as director of wealth management.

Francavilla is a former director of wealth management and branch/division manager at Legg Mason. He has worked in the industry for around 28 years.

Myles McHale was hired as a wealth management advisor and managing director at US Bank's Private Client Reserve in Naples, FL.

McHale will lead a team of wealth management advisors and consultants in Florida who provide wealth management services to individuals, business owners and non-profit institutions.

McHale has worked in the banking and financial services industry since 1981. Prior to joining the Private Client Reserve, he was a managing director of Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors’  consultant relations liaison group.

He has also worked at Fleet Investment Services, Chase Manhattan Bank and The Morgan Bank. 

Bank of America’s board of directors elected the firm's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, as chairman, succeeding Charles Holliday.

Jack Bovender, a member of the board of directors since August 2012, became the board’s lead independent director.

“There’s more work ahead, but Brian’s strategy to simplify the company and connect it with the real economy continues to build value for shareholders,” said Holliday.

Bovender, the former chairman and chief executive officer of HCA Inc, is a member of the board’s credit and enterprise risk committees.

Moynihan became CEO and a member of the board of directors of Bank of America on January 1, 2010.

NFP Advisor Services, which provides technology and asset management platforms to financial advisors, added Sawchuk & Langenstein Wealth Strategies to its network.

Based in Troy, MI, Sawchuk & Langenstein Wealth Strategies specializes in financial planning and investment management for pre-retirees. Principals Terry Sawchuk and Bill Langenstein have nearly four decades of combined experience in the financial services industry. The firm manages $155 million in assets as of August 1, 2014, and has over 500 clients.


Citi Private Bank promoted Halé Behzadi to global market manager of the US western region, taking over from Tracey Warson, who was recently appointed as head of Citi Private Bank North America.

Behzadi will oversee the firm’s offices in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle. She will continue to report to Warson in her new role and will continue to be based in Los Angeles.

Behzadi has nearly three decades of experience working with ultra high net worth families, their closely-held businesses and philanthropic ventures. She was most recently regional market manager for Southern California and Arizona, responsible for managing the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County and Phoenix offices.

Prior to joining Citi in 2002, she worked at Bank of America as a senior vice president directing a team of private bankers in Beverly Hills.

Cornerstone Advisors selected National Advisors Trust Company to launch Cornerstone Advisors Trust Services, through which Cornerstone will market trust and trustee services administered by NATC.

“It is increasingly clear that our current and future clients require a durable, best-in-class, independent professional fiduciary partner to facilitate their wealth transfer and estate planning objectives,” said Kenneth Hart, chief executive at Cornerstone Advisors.

The Trust Representative Office program, implemented by NATC, allows advisors to offer trust and trustee services to clients under private-label branding, with administrative services provided by NATC.

Schroders brought in Duncan Shand and Fred Dopfel to serve as senior advisors within the firm's $98 billion (as at June 30) multi-asset business, based in London and the US respectively.

Shand is a professor of practice at Warwick Business School at the UK's University of Warwick, before which he spent 14 years at BlackRock. There, he held senior roles in the global markets strategies group and was a member of the investment oversight committee and research review board, as well as head of foreign exchange portfolio management and research.

Dopfel is a university professor at the School of Business and Leadership at the Dominican University of California. Prior to joining the Dominican University he held senior roles at BlackRock – most recently as managing director and head of client advisory.

The pair will work alongside senior fund managers in London, New York, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Peter Schibli joined the executive search firm Sheffield Haworth in Boston, MA, as managing director of the firm’s asset management practice.

Schibli joined from his own Boston, MA-based executive search firm P F S Associates, which concentrated on the asset and wealth management, investment banking, capital markets and private equity sectors.

He began his career in 1990 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York where he was a relationship manager in the international private banking group. After that, he returned to Boston and became an executive recruiter in the financial services industry at H I Hunt & Company.

Schibli built his own practice largely in the institutional sales and trading, corporate and public finance, and investment management arenas. In 2002, he made a brief return to the investment community as an institutional equity salesman at Merrill Lynch before launching P F S Associates in 2004.

Snowden Lane Partners, the independent advisor-owned wealth advisory firm, brought in Philip Lazzari, Mark Stevens, Eric Watson and Eric Buckner from UBS as partners and managing directors.

They operate as The Harbor Wealth Management Group in Snowdon's new office in Baltimore, MD.

Harbor Wealth Management serves private clients, small businesses, non-profits and corporate executives.

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