A round-up of moves, appointments and changes at the North America wealth sector during February.

Former Cresset Asset Management president Liz Nesvold moved to be chair of Emigrant Partners, one of the industry’s prominent minority investors. Nesvold, who was also named vice chair of Emigrant Bank, focuses on its businesses that target the high net worth and ultra-high net worth markets, including Summitas and Personal Risk Management Solutions.

German asset manager DWS named Stephen Cianci as a senior portfolio manager in its US fixed income team. With more than three decades of experience in fixed income multi-sector portfolio management, Cianci is based in the New York office and reports to Shilpa Lakhani, head of portfolio management fixed income solutions. Cianci joined from MacKay Shields, where he had worked since 2018. Prior to that, he was with Aberdeen AM for seven years.

First Horizon Corporation, the New York-listed group that provides services including wealth and trust management, promoted Ashley Argo to deputy chief risk officer. Argo served in several roles in her 19-year tenure with First Horizon Bank in departments including accounting, credit, and risk management.

Meketa Capital, a new subsidiary of Meketa Investment Group – the investment consulting and fiduciary management – unveiled board members and added equity ownership.

Ashley Widger, through the entity AEW, became an equity owner and growth capital provider to Meketa Capital. Michael Bell, CEO of Meketa Capital, became equity owner of the firm.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor John Willey to its independent advisor channel. Prior to this, Wiley worked at Edward Jones, where he previously managed about $123 million in client assets. 

The firm also brought in financial advisor Enrique Gumucio to the group’s employee advisor channel. Gumucio, who joined the Brickell Avenue branch in Miami, was formerly at Morgan Stanley, where he managed about $100 million in client assets.

It also welcomed financial advisors David Behar and David Nagel to the employee advisor channel in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The advisors operate as the Behar-Nagel Group of Raymond James. They serve clients such as business owners, executives, family offices and individuals preparing for or living in retirement. The advisors, who are joined by senior registered client service associate Lynne Kistenmacher, previously managed about $340 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley.

The group also appointed Alex David as Northeast division director within its independent advisor channel, Raymond James Financial Services. David filled the role formerly held by Shannon Reid, who was named president of the firm’s independent contractor division. With more than three decades’ experience in the financial services sector, David most recently served as president and CEO of Stifel Independent Advisors. 

Polar Capital Holdings, the active asset management group, said that Dan Boston had agreed to join Polar Capital (America) Corporation in September 2024. He is expected to be Polar Capital’s head of global small and mid-cap equities, leading a new specialist international small and mid-cap equities investment franchise. Boston, who has nearly 20 years of experience in international small and mid-cap company investing, most recently worked at Brown Capital Management in Baltimore, Maryland, leading the International Small Company strategy.

Ezra Group, a wealth tech consultancy, appointed Aaron Klein, founder and former CEO of Nitrogen (formerly known as Riskalyze), as an executive-in-residence. Klein, who founded Nitrogen in 2011, serves on the firm’s board of directors and stepped down as its CEO in late 2023. He also sits on the boards of Snappy Kraken and Mountain States Policy Center.

New Republic Partners named Will Amerine as managing director to lead the firm’s expansion in Denver and the broader Rocky Mountain region. Prior to joining New Republic Partners, Amerine served as a managing director at Geller Advisors and Cresset. Prior to that, he helped launch the Denver office of Ascent Private Capital Management of US Bank, serving on the firm’s leadership committee as the head of national business development.

Pittsburgh-headquartered PNC Financial Services Group appointed one of its senior figures, Michael P Lyons, as its president. Lyons is also president of the group’s banking subsidiary, PNC Bank.

The previous president was Bill Demchak, who continues as chairman and CEO of the PNC Financial Services Group, and its wholly-owned banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, National Association.

Lyons reports to Demchak. PNC's primary operating lines of business and the regional presidents’ office reports to Lyons. Lyons has been an executive vice president and head of corporate and institutional banking since he joined PNC in October 2011. Prior to PNC, Lyons served as global head of corporate development and strategic planning for Bank of America.

Citizens Financial Group opened its first private banking office in Boston and announced several senior hires. It appointed Michael Cherny as head of Citizens Wealth Management Advisors and Tom Metzger as head of Citizens Private Wealth Managers.

Angeles Wealth Management appointed Rick Nott as managing director. Nott operates from the firm’s office in Santa Monica, California. Prior to joining the firm, Nott was a senior wealth advisor at LourdMurray; he also spent time as an advisor at AdvicePeriod and Signature Estate and Investment Advisors. Nott started his career in wealth management at United Capital Financial Advisors.

Savant Wealth Management, an RIA, named Jon W Zindel as its chief financial officer. Before this role, Zindel served as partner, CFO and executive committee member at Chicago’s William Blair, where, over the course of 12 years, he also led technology, human resources, real estate, and philanthropy. 

Minneapolis-headquartered Nepsis, a financial advisor and investment management firm, appointed Ed Stober as senior wealth advisor, to grow advisor-client relationships and bolster the firm’s family office framework. He has been a senior director at Choreo, gaining experience as a financial consultant at Charles Schwab, and serving as the director of training and development at Thrivent Financial. Stober has worked in the sector for more than 30 years.

CAIS, a US alternative investment platform for advisors, appointed David Canter as a strategic advisor. Canter has more than 20 years of experience serving the independent advisor community, including more than a decade at Fidelity Investments. At Fidelity, he led the RIA and family office segments and led the practice management and consulting practice for Fidelity Institutional. Earlier in his career, David held a senior leadership position at Charles Schwab.

Summit Trail Advisors promoted three of its figures, Caitlin Hagan, Sarah Silverio, and Michelle Zeng, to partner.

Rockefeller Global Family Office, the wealth management division of Rockefeller Capital Management, added Lewis Wealth Partners – the firm’s first private advisor team based in Richmond, Virginia. 

Lewis Wealth Partners is led by managing directors and private advisors John Lewis, Joseph Bartholomew III, and Richard Blackwell as well as senior vice president and private advisor Kylie Roman. The 10-person team came from Truist and reports to Kristen Sario, Southeast divisional director of Rockefeller Global Family Office. Other members of Lewis Wealth Partners include team financial planning officers Lindsay E Dillon and Trevor Adams, wealth manager Michael G Hofmeister, client service manager Catherine Elrod, and client associates Lauren Hershey and Jessica Taylor.

New York-based Canoe Intelligence, a financial technology company in the alternatives industry, appointed a former senior CIA official, Noel Calhoun, as chief technology officer, and named Tiffany Mosher Taylor as head of people. A former CTO at Onsites.io, (retail analytics company), Interos (supply chain and risk management software), and Kensho Technologies (AI company), Calhoun also worked for 13 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, leading the creation and leadership of data science and machine learning teams.