A roundup of moves and appointments across the North American wealth management industry.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has appointed Alla Whitston as chief information officer for the Americas and Matt Abrusci as general counsel for the Americas.

Whitston is responsible for all IT strategy, infrastructure, architecture, and technology systems for all corporate and business functions within the company. As general counsel, Abrusci is responsible for the overall management of legal affairs and board of directors' administration related to MUFG's combined operations in the Americas. 

Most recently, Whitston served as the chief information officer for Silicon Valley Bank/First-Citizens Bank. Abrusci served as the global head of the capital markets law group of the Royal Bank of Canada. 

Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, appointed Mike Wade as national sector leader in the US for banking and capital markets. Wade succeeded Deron Weston, who continued to serve as Deloitte's US financial services industry consulting leader.

Dynasty Financial Partners named Ron Insana, a prominent broadcast journalist and commentator, to the new role of chief market strategist. Rated as one of the “Top 100 Business News Journalists of the 20th Century,” Insana is known for his high-profile interviews with figures such as President Bill Clinton and President George Bush, billionaire investors including Warren Buffett and George Soros, captains of industry such as Bill Gates and Jack Welch, as well as economists, analysts, and influencers. Insana was praised for his coverage of the market crash of 1987 and one of the first eyewitness accounts of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. He has also worked as an asset manager. 

Steward Partners Global Advisory welcomed Vantage Point Private Wealth, a business led by wealth managers Mark Morasky, Erik Clay, and Chris Figaro. Morasky, who has been a financial advisor since 1996, is a 1988 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned a Bronze Star in Desert Storm as a Military Intelligence Officer. He holds an MBA from Western Michigan University.

Clay holds the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor^SM (CRPC®) designations awarded by the College for Financial Planning. He spent eight years as a professional equity trader prior to joining Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 2011. Figaro joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management where he was a vice president and senior financial advisor in 2014 after spending six years as an options and equity trader in New York City.
 
JP Morgan Private Bank launched its US Family Office Practice. It will be led by William Sinclair, a 17-year veteran of JP Morgan and a member of the US private bank operating committee. Sinclair is also head of the private bank’s financial institutions group. 

Manhattan West, a Los Angeles-based wealth management and alternative investments firm, added two senior advisors to its team: Orin Winick as managing director and financial advisor, alongside Nicholas Wolf, CFP®, who is executive director and financial advisor. With expertise in private lending, Winick has decades of experience and extensive industry relationships. Prior to his new role, he held leadership positions at Aspiriant, Barclays, and Merrill Lynch. Wolf, who has more than a decade of experience in giving advice, specializes in areas including retirement planning, insurance, commercial lending, tax planning, and mortgage lending. Most recently, Wolf was vice president, relationship manager at Key Private Bank. 

New York-listed Citizens Financial Group named Susan de Tray as the head of its Citizens Private Bank unit. She previously served as senior vice president, deputy chief credit officer and head of credit administration for First Republic Bank. She is based in San Francisco.

Miracle Mile Advisors, a registered investment advisor, appointed Nate Angelo as the firm's head of wealth management. Prior to this role, Angelo served in senior leadership roles at RBC Wealth Management. 

Fiduciary Trust International, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, appointed Scott Small as a trust counsel based in its Radnor office. Most recently, Small was a senior vice president of estate services, and senior regional fiduciary manager for the US East and North areas, at Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management. 

Fiducient Advisors appointed former senior London Stock Exchange Group figure Sabrina Bailey as its CEO. Bailey most recently served as LSEG’s global head of investment and wealth solutions. She succeeded Bob DiMeo, the firm’s founder, who became chairman and remained actively engaged in the business. 

Law firm McGuireWoods appointed New York partner Helen Gavaris to add to its fiduciary litigation capabilities. Gavaris has over three decades of experience representing corporate fiduciaries and high net worth individuals in complex disputes. Before this role, she worked at Loeb & Loeb. 

Ameriprise Financial said that financial advisor Amanda Hale moved her $250-million practice to the firm from PNC Investments in Port Arthur, Texas. Hale joined Third Coast Advisors, a financial advisory practice within the Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group (AFIG), which provides advice and investment services to Third Coast Bank branches across Southeast Texas.

TRUE Cresset | Sports + Entertainment (aka "TRUE Cresset") – the US business created from a merger in May – appointed former sports figures Brandon Williams as director, wealth advisor; and Jon Marc Carrier as associate director, WA. Williams brings more than 13 years’ experience leading operations and relationship management activities within the sports industry. Prior to joining TRUE Cresset, he served as president of operations at TBH Sports, where he implemented specialized client services and reinvented the execution of operational tactics for athlete development. 

Carrier began his career at the NFL headquarters in the Football Operations department, focusing on serving retired players in the NFL Legends Community. Later, he moved to the Player Marketing space, where he worked on player branding projects, such as the NFL 100 Super Bowl commercial and other tent-pole events, including the NFL Draft, Pro Bowl, as well as the International Series games. In 2019, he was promoted to the Player Engagement department.

Columbia Trust Company, a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Columbia Banking System, appointed Rob Pitois as senior vice president and regional trust manager for California and Nevada. Pitois reports to Rob Howell, president and director of investments at Columbia Trust Company. Prior to this, Pitois led a team of Umpqua Private Bank advisors and bankers, serving high net worth families, business owners, family offices, and select non-profit organizations. 

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed David Santos as a wealth manager. Boston-based Santos reports to Christine Abramo, regional director of portfolio management, New England. Santos has more than three decades in the financial services industry. Santos joined from Northern Trust where he spent 18 years, most recently as a senior VP and regional portfolio advisor. 

Argent Trust Company, a subsidiary of Argent Financial Group, appointed Caroline Forks as trust counsel. She reports directly to Brooks Campany, Oxford regional manager. Before joining Argent, Forks served as vice president and trust advisor at Regions Bank in private wealth management. 

Lido Advisors, headquartered in Los Angeles, appointed Jordan Greenhouse as chief growth officer. Greenhouse brought over 25 years of business experience, most recently working with Kayne Anderson Rudnick, the investment firm, as managing director of its institutional and retail divisions.

Ameriprise Financial added a group of advisors collectively overseeing more than $400 million of client money to its independent channel. Albert Stanton, joined from Cetera Advisors with $125 million in client assets in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Kevin Frontone, joined from Edward Jones with $107 million in client assets in Springfield, Illinois. Separately, Kent Hunter joined from Edward Jones with $172 million in client assets in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Steward Partners Global Advisory, the US employee-owned firm, named long-serving Merrill Lynch figure Paul Sullivan as partner and managing director, head of internal sourcing. With 37 years of financial services experience, from 2021 to 2023 he was regional managing director (East Coast) with Sanctuary Wealth. He began his career with Merrill Lynch in 1986 as a client associate at the SD Financial Center in New York and rose through Merrill's ranks in a variety of posts. 

Jacmel Growth Partners, a minority-owned, US private investment firm, appointed Jorge Mora who joined as co-managing partner. Mora is a veteran of the financial services and private equity industry. Mora has three decades of experience in private equity and corporate advisory. 

Global business advisory firm EisnerAmper appointed industry veteran Chris Brodersen as managing director in its business advisory group. Brodersen is based at the firm’s Iselin, New Jersey office. Prior to this, Brodersen served as a blockchain lab leader at a “Big 4” accounting firm.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Rebekah Fa'asau to the firm’s employee advisor channel in Boise, Idaho. Fa'asau arrived from Merrill Lynch, where she managed more than $185 million in client assets; she was joined by client service associates Ali McCormack and Payton Thomas. Fa'asau became an advisor in 2007.

SS&C Technologies appointed Brian Schell as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He reports to Bill Stone, the chairman and CEO. Schell joined SS&C from Cboe Global Markets, where he was executive VP, chief financial officer and treasury. 

Cetera Financial Group, the financial advisor wealth hub in the US, said that Chuck D'Amico has joined the Cetera Investors branch in Tampa, Florida. D'Amico, a financial services veteran and longtime financial advisor, has joined from Mass Mutual.

Raymond James welcomed former UBS advisors Raymond Forster II and Giovanni Galbiati to the firm’s independent advisor channel.