There were plenty of moves in October; a name that came up a lot was that of Raymond James, the Florida-based wealth management group that operates an umbrella-like structure, bringing in scores of advisor groups in recent weeks.

Raymond James welcomed advisors Kevin Bannister, Mark Raney, Nevin Cavanaugh, and Hobie Bannister to Raymond James & Associates, its advisor broker/dealer in Des Moines, Iowa. The advisors joined RJA in the firm’s West Des Moines, Iowa office managed by Steve DeVenney, from RBC Wealth Management where they previously managed $240 million in client assets. Aimee Holmes, senior registered client service associate, also joined. Together, they operate as Bannister, Raney Cavanaugh (BRC) Wealth Group of Raymond James.

Cavanaugh, vice president of wealth management at BRC Wealth Group, has been a financial professional for 20 years, beginning his career with Merrill Lynch, and later working at UBS Financial Services. Bannister, vice president of wealth management at BRC Wealth Group, has been in the industry for 23 years. Raney, vice president of wealth management at BRC Wealth Group, has been in financial services for 28 years, working with UBS Financial Services and later RBC Wealth Management. Hobie Bannister, senior investment portfolio analyst at BRC Wealth Group, has 45 years of experience in wealth management. Holmes, senior registered client service associate, joined BRC in 1999 and has been with the team ever since for over 20 years.

The firm also brought over two groups of advisors to its network: one in Tennessee and the second in Boston. Raymond James brought in Roper Fields, Thomas Fields and B V Lawson to its employee advisor broker/dealer. These advisors joined from Wells Fargo, where they previously managed about $150 million in client assets under advisement and generated over $1.6 million in revenue. The team operates as Fields Wealth Management of Raymond James and was joined by senior registered sales associate Tammy Alexander. In Boston, the firm added to its financial investment banking practice. Joiners were Robert Hutchinson as managing director, Andrew Stager as director, Calvin Chau as vice president and analyst Frank Elder. 

Raymond James appointed Gary Wardein, senior vice president, wealth management, to join Raymond James & Associates in San Diego, California. Wardein joined RJA in its Rancho Bernardo office from Merrill Lynch, where he previously managed $206 million in client assets. Joining Wardein was his daughter, Erin Bethge, financial advisor. Together, the two operate as Wardein Wealth Management of Raymond James. Wardein has 41 years of financial services experience, beginning his career in the industry with Merrill Lynch in 1978. He and Bethge run their practice as father and daughter.

A financial advisory group collectively overseeing $990 million in client assets – and $1.6 billion under advisement – joined RJA. The advisors, who joined from UBS, are Arun Sardana, Adam Proger, Paul Grambsch and Reilly Loflin. The team operated as SPG Fiduciary Partners of Raymond James and will be located in the Bethesda, Maryland office, which is a part of the Chesapeake Complex managed by Warren Wright.

Alex. Brown, a division of Raymond James, brought over client advisor Eric Dexter to a new branch opened in Portland, Maine. The Portland area is part of Alex. Brown’s Atlantic region, managed by regional director Brett Kellam. Dexter joined from Wells Fargo, where he managed $250 million in client assets. He has been in the financial services industry for nearly 25 years.

Raymond James welcomed John Jennings, financial advisor, to Raymond James Financial Services – its independent broker/dealer in Vero Beach, Florida. Jennings joined RJFS from Morgan Stanley, where he previously managed $106 million in client assets. He has five years of financial services experience, beginning his career with Morgan Stanley in 2014. 

The firm hired two strategists to join its private client group investment strategy team. Kevin Giddis took on the new role of chief fixed income strategist after leading the firm’s fixed income division, and Scott Day joined as senior investment strategist. 

Giddis had multiple senior leadership roles with Raymond James; formerly at Morgan Keegan for more than 20 years, most recently he was executive vice president and co-head of fixed income capital markets. Day has more than 25 years of financial services and investment management experience, joining from Goldman Sachs Asset Management where he was a managing director.

Evercore Wealth Management appointed Steven Chung as a managing director and portfolio manager. Prior to this, Chung worked at State Street Global Advisors. Chung is based in New York and reports to Brian Pollak, a partner and portfolio manager at Evercore Wealth Management.

Sotheby’s, the global auction house, appointed Charles F Stewart as chief executive. He joined from Altice USA, where he had served as co-president and chief financial officer from 2016. Stewart succeeded Tad Smith, who had served as CEO of Sotheby’s since 2015. Smith became a shareholder of the company and senior advisor to Stewart. In his former role, Stewart helped establish Altice USA as a significant technology, telecommunications and entertainment provider, working towards its $2.0 billion initial public offering in 2017. Stewart joined Altice USA after two decades of banking and finance experience spanning the US, Latin America and Europe.

Don Valentine, who founded the renowned Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital, died at the age of 87 at his home in California. The VC entrepreneur’s firm is responsible for minting a large number of high net worth individuals and his business model has been copied and studied around the world. Valentine worked in California’s Silicon Valley for almost four decades. His business has backed big-hitters in the tech space such as Oracle, Cisco, Microchip Technology, Linear Technology, and Network Appliance. One of his funds invested in Atari, the pioneering videogame company started by Nolan Bushnell, and in Apple Computer, a company started by a onetime Atari employee, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who later went on to build Apple. Valentine served on the boards of Atari and Apple.

Valentine graduated from Fordham University before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for Fairchild Semiconductor, one of the earliest technology start-ups that ultimately spun off computing giants Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and National Semiconductor.

Montgomery Wealth Management set up a new wealth advisory firm, based in Morristown, New Jersey, founded by a former senior figure at Morgan Stanley. The business is led by chief executive William Shinners, who was previously a managing director at Morgan Stanley.

Jane Fraser, who has run Citigroup’s global private bank and its US consumer and commercial banking arms, and most recently its Latin American business, became the bank's new president. Stephen Bird left to pursue an opportunity outside the firm. Fraser took on his role as CEO of global consumer banking. 

Ernesto Torres Cantu, CEO of Citibanamex, succeeded Fraser as chief executive of Latin America. Fraser has been at the bank for 15 years, having joined from McKinsey to run client strategy in the corporate and investment bank. During the financial crisis, she led its corporate strategy and M&A group, Citigroup said. Most recently, she served as CEO of Latin America, where she and Ernesto Torres Cantu have been overseeing Citigroup’s investment in Citibanamex.

Torres Cantu, appointed CEO of Citibanamex in 2014, is a 30-year veteran of Citigroup, having joined as a corporate banker in 1989. Bird’s departure rounds out a 20-year career at Citigroup. He has served in several posts, including head of consumer banking in Asia-Pacific and ultimately CEO of the region.

RBC Wealth Management recruited a new group called IC Team, formerly of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, to join its Reno branch in northern Nevada. The IC Group is composed of Paul Comcowich, senior vice president - financial advisor; David Lubelt, SVP – financial advisor; Clifford Lubelt, AVP – financial advisor; Robin Brunson, financial advisor; and senior registered client associate Kimberlie Jones. The team manages about $405 million in assets.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, part of Deutsche Bank, hired Samuel Descovich as head of global products and solutions for the Americas. Descovich is responsible for developing and delivering products and solutions to wealth management Americas clients, including alternative investments, capital markets, and trust and custody services. Prior to this, Descovich worked at UBS Global Wealth Management. He was Americas’ head of capital markets solutions for six years. Before that, he was Americas head of structured products distribution for seven years and managed a global equity sales desk for five years. Earlier in his career, he had various investment roles at Lazard Asset Management, Nomura Asset Management and Salomon Smith Barney. Based in New York, Descovich reports to Lavanya Chari, head of global products and solutions, and regionally to Patrick Campion, head of wealth management Americas.

Boston Private, the wealth management, trust, private and commercial banking firm, appointed Patrick Dwyer as managing director, head of strategic business development. Dwyer has more than 30 years of experience in the industry. Before his new role, Dwyer served as private wealth advisor at Merrill for nearly three decades. 

Main Management, a firm based in San Francisco, appointed Darol Ryan as managing director. With nearly 17 years of experience in investment management for high net worth individuals and institutions, Ryan focuses on expanding relationships with existing and prospective clients. 

Americana Partners – part of the Dynasty Financial Partners network - appointed David M Darst as chief investment officer, reporting to president Jason Fertitta. Darst is also a consultant and senior investment advisor to Dynasty Financial Partners working with Dynasty’s chief investment officer and director of investment platforms Joe Dursi. The CIO is based in Houston, Texas and New York City. Prior to this, he held senior executive posts with Petiole Asset Management in Zurich and The Family Office in New York and Bahrain. Yale College and Harvard Business School-educated, Darst is a financier, university educator, and the author of 13 books. For 17 years, Darst was a managing partner and chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, where he served as vice chairman of the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Global Investment Committee. 

PKF O’Connor Davies, the US accounting, tax and advisory firm, launched Family Advisory Services, a new offering that advises private business owners, ultra-high net worth families, their family offices and the advisors which serve them. The group is led by Steve Prostano. Prostano, a certified public accountant and attorney with an LL.M in taxation, has worked for 35 years in the professional services sector. Prior to his new role, he was the head of Family Wealth Advisors, a division of Bank of the West Wealth Management, an affiliate of BNP Paribas. Prostano also served on the Bank of the West’s senior management committee. He founded The UHNW Institute, a non-profit, independent think tank that issues thought-leadership content for ultra-wealthy families, advisors and family offices. (Family Wealth Report is the exclusive media partner of the institute. Prostano is also a member of FWR’s editorial advisory board.)

Prior to his roles with Bank of the West, Prostano was chief executive of Silver Bridge, president of Atlantic Trust and a global partner of Amvescap, president of Chase Global Asset Management and executive vice president of the Private Clients Group of FleetBoston Financial. He also held senior positions with Mellon Bank and KPMG, where he began his career.

GCW Global Customized Wealth appointed California-based Tim Babich as a partner. Babich continues to manage Nexxus Holdings, an investment firm primarily dedicated to managing his personal investments. Babich founded and is a director of the RUNX1 Research Program, a philanthropic grant-funding and advocacy foundation for patients with the RUNX1 Familial Platelet Disorder. Babich was the founder and chief executive of Fortelus Capital Management, a multi-billion London-based hedge fund focused on special situations and distressed debt. He also founded and was chairman of FCM Bank, a Malta-based online bank which was founded in 2012 and sold to a European payments platform in 2017.

Pelion Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm, added Jeff Kearl as managing director. Kearl co-founded Stance in 2009 and was its chief executive from inception until joining Pelion this month. Besides his entrepreneurial experience at Stance and other start-ups, Kearl has a track record of angel and venture investing in consumer tech and software.

Argent Trust Company appointed Catherine Gotzkowsky as trust associate in the New Orleans office. She reports to Mark Milton, director of institutional services at Argent, and is responsible for working closely with clients and the administration of trust and investment accounts. Gotzkowsky has 28 years of diverse work experience, including banking operations, sales and compliance.

Refinitiv, the global data provider, hired Cornelia Andersson as global head of M&A and capital raising. Andersson, a member of the I&A proposition leadership team, is based in London. She reports to Pradeep Menon, managing director of investing and advisory. She joined from Blackstone, where she was senior vice president, global head of research and market data, leading the firm’s market data and business intelligence functions globally.

Addepar, a wealth management technology platform, hired Don Nilsson as chief product officer. In his new role, Nilsson drives development of the company’s software solution that specializes in data aggregation, analytics, and portfolio reporting to provide insights and clarity to investment portfolios. Nilsson joined from FactSet, where he spent the last 23 years of his career. Most recently, he was the senior vice president of product development, responsible for running FactSet’s global product development function and overseeing development across the entire FactSet platform.

Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management named Rick Calero as head of lending and deposits. Calero reports directly to chief executive Catherine Keating in this position. With more than 20 years of industry experience in strategic business planning, banking and lending, Calero joined the firm with prior positions at TIAA, Umpqua Financial Holdings, Citigroup and Regions Financial. He is a US Army veteran.

Dowling & Yahnke Wealth Advisors appointed a former US Navy pilot Andrew Christopher as an associate advisor. Prior to this, Christopher served for 10 years in the US Navy as a naval officer and an F/A-18 Super-Hornet pilot. He joined two other Dowling & Yahnke team members who previously served as US navy officers: Will Beamer CFA, CFP®, president, chief investment officer, principal, and Mark Wernig, CFP®, lead advisor, principal.

Envestnet’s founder, chairman and chief executive, Judson Bergman, and his wife, Mary Miller, died in an automobile accident in San Francisco, California. The board of directors named Bill Crager, who is president of Envestnet and chief executive of Envestnet Wealth Solutions, as interim CEO. Crager has served as president of Envestnet since 2002. The board of directors also appointed Ross Chapin, the lead independent director of Envestnet’s board of directors, as interim chairman of Envestnet’s board.

London & Capital, the wealth and asset manager, appointed Jacob Holden as head of operations within the US Family Office. Holden reports to Rob Paul, partner at the firm and is based in London. The US Family Office provides wealth and investment advice to US-connected private client families and trusts, advising families on the structure and asset allocation of their investments within the complex tax regime of the US. Holden is a specialist in offshore trusts and fiduciaries.

DriveWealth Holdings, which provides digital trading technology, appointed Julie Coin as its president. Coin has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Coin has worked in strategy, transformation management and operations at companies including Galaxy Digital, E*Trade Financial Corporation, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Most recently, Coin was chief operating officer of Galaxy Digital, after serving as an independent consultant for a variety of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency start-ups. 

Fiduciary Trust Company, the wealth advisory firm, appointed Rick Tyson as vice president and investment officer. Tyson brings nearly three decades of financial services experience to his role at Fiduciary Trust, where he focuses on business development. He joined from Wilmington Trust, where he served as VP, senior wealth advisor. 

Citi Private Bank appointed Jon Blum, based in New York, reporting to Cesar Chicayban, as head of the bank in the New York metro area. Blum focuses on family offices, working with the bank’s private capital group. Prior to this, Blum worked at Citi’s global investor sales business, where he was a global relationship manager for nine years. In this role, Blum was responsible for hedge fund coverage across all markets products. Before he joined the US bank, Blum was a managing director and the head of business development at Liberty Square Asset Management.