A round-up of moves, appointments and personnel changes in the North American wealth management sector.

North America moves for June 2024
Globalcap, a UK-headquartered tech provider for private markets, appointed Scott Kreitz, president and head of operations, to lead the firm’s US office in New York.

Kreitz has more than 20 years’ experience in financial markets, launching products across institutional and wealth management segments. 

He was joined by US head of marketing, Alexandra Marciniak, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg; head of US business development, Joshua Kasper, from Fidelity Investments; and head of “customer success US,” Carly Ferris, formerly of Z-Squared Securities.

Fiduciary Trust International has appointed Laura C Pease, and James T Farmer, as managing director, senior trust officer and managing director, senior portfolio manager, respectively. Both individuals are based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Pease, a 24-year veteran of Bank of America in Atlanta, has more than three decades of industry experience and community leadership. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, she served as a private client advisor and senior vice president at Bank of America Private Bank where she catered to high net worth individuals, families, and family offices. 

In his previous role, Farmer spent more than 15 years as a portfolio manager at Bank of America Private Bank in Atlanta, delivering investment advice and solutions for high net worth individuals and families. Prior to that, he worked at Calibre Family Office and Offitbank (subsidiaries of Wachovia Bank) in their family office investment divisions.

Coller Capital appointed Matthew McCann as a director in New York to focus on RIA and family office sales. Previously, McCann spent seven years as a principal at Investcorp, where he was responsible for family office, RIA and institutional fundraising for the firm’s private equity and general partner stakes' businesses. 

Verdence Capital Advisors, a private wealth advisor, appointed Dwight Davenport as executive director, private wealth advisor, at its newest office location in Boston, Massachusetts. Davenport brings more than 30 years of wealth management and leadership experience to the team. 

Commonwealth Financial Network, a US firm. said Terramar Wealth of Carlsbad, California, joined its network of independent financial advisors. Advisors include Mike Gallop, Danny McMahon, Steve Statzer, Steve Rubinstein, Greg Fox, Jeffrey Gardner, and Todd Oberlin; they were joined by Pat Posada, director of compliance.

Certuity, an RIA, appointed former WisdomTree and Dynasty figure Scott Welch as chief investment officer. Welch, who has more than 25 years’ investment experience, was most recently a member of the WisdomTree asset allocation and investment committees and CIO of their model portfolios.

Minneapolis-headquartered Nepsis®, a national financial advisor and investment management firm, made two appointments to bolster the firm's tax division and help high net worth clients resolve complex tax requirements. 

Jack Cahill, joined Nepsis® as senior vice president of tax, and Chad Koebnick was named vice president of specialized tax services. They report to Byran Eberle, president of Nepsis® tax solutions.

A Virginia-based team of financial advisors, previously at Truist and running about $915 million in assets, joined RBC Wealth Management in the US. The group includes Alexander S Brown, managing director and financial advisor, with 22 years’ industry experience; and William Brinkley, MD, financial advisor, with 36 years of industry track record. Others in the team: Taylor Brinkley, financial advisor; Lane Thomas, senior business associate; Victoria Roberts, SBA; Hunter Brammer, SBA; Carly Kacvinsky, registered client associate; John Kim, client associate; and Jan Conner, CA.

Ritholtz Wealth Management, a US RIA, appointed former financial journalist Callie Cox as chief market strategist – a newly-created role. She operates from the firm’s new Charlotte office. Prior to this, Cox was an investment analyst at social investing platform eToro. She also held investment strategy and research positions at Ally, LPL Financial and First Citizens Bank. Cox began her career as a reporter at Bloomberg.

Winthrop Capital Management, an RIA, promoted Adam Coons as co-chief investment officer. Coons, who has been at the firm since 2013, was previously chief portfolio manager.

American Endowment Foundation, a sponsor of donor-advised funds, added two C-suite figures to its team: Karen Heath-Wade, chief business development officer and Kelly McGrath, chief marketing and communications officer. Heath-Wade  served as the senior vice president and global head of client strategy and service at American Century Investments. McGrath has nearly 25 years of experience in marketing and communications. Previously she was senior manager for internal communications at The Lubrizol Corporation.

Citigroup appointed two senior figures in its wealth management operation in the US: Kris Bitterly and Keith Glenfield. Bitterly, who was previously head of investment solutions, is the US bank’s new “Head of Wealth at Work.” Glenfield became head of investment solutions, heading its global investment product organization, which includes Citi Investment Management, markets, alternative investments and insurance.

Northern Trust Asset Management appointed David Abner as head of global ETFs and funds. Abner reports to Paula Kar, NTAM global head of product.

Fiduciary Trust International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, appointed Erica B Landeros as trust counsel in the firm’s New York office. Prior to this, Landeros worked at Bank of America Private Bank in New York, where she was managing director and regional fiduciary advisor in the office of the chief fiduciary. Before this, Landeros (formerly Slezak) was in private practice as a high net worth estate planning and administration attorney for over two decades.

Pritzker Private Capital brought back Anna Edgcomb as vice president for manufactured products, and Alyson Brown has joined as VP for its services area. Edgcomb and Brown help source and execute investments.

Returning to PPC after receiving her MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Edgcomb was previously an associate at PPC. She began her career in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Brown joined from Wind Point Partners, a middle market private equity firm.

Equitable Advisors, a wealth advisory firm, appointed Lori Brown and Jim Carroll. They moved their practice from Truist, where they managed a total of $326 million in client assets. 

Summit Financial launched a new independent firm, SRM Private Wealth, headquartered in Pasadena, California. It is led by managing partner and private wealth advisor Richard McWhorter.

Eton Advisors, the multi-family office, named Tamara Surratt as a member of its leadership team. Surratt founded and is CEO of Legacy Family Office. Her expertise covers areas such as estate and tax planning, family governance, heir development and education, and philanthropic initiatives.

Russell Investments appointed C J Jaskoll as chief technology officer. Jaskoll reports to chief operating officer Vernon Barback and sits on its operating committee. Prior to joining Russell Investments, Jaskoll worked at Neuberger Berman for seven years, where he most recently served as managing director, head of investment and data technologies. 

FINTRX, a resource for private wealth and research, appointed Christian Connolly as a senior business development director. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts. Connolly joined in June and previously worked for Virtuoso, a software firm.

RBC Global Asset Management, (RBC GAM) appointed a new CEO – Donald Sanya – for its US business. He took over from predecessor Mike Lee. Sanya reports to Damon Williams, chief executive for RBC GAM. Sanya joined RBC GAM in 2014 as MD, US institutional sales.

Colorado-headquartered Risclarity named Mark Wickersham as senior vice president of strategic marketing and business development. A resident of Boston, Wickersham has served in a variety of roles in a working career spanning more than three decades. 

Advisor360°, which provides wealth management software, appointed Abbe Gálvez Cordón as senior vice president of strategy and corporate development – a newly-formed role. Gálvez Cordón reports to CEO Mike Fanning. Prior to this, Gálvez Cordón was managing director, head of wealth and wealthtech investment banking at Bank of America. She was at BoA for 16 years in various roles.

TIFIN, a fintech firm with a focus on AI, appointed investor and entrepreneur Ken Denman (pictured) to join its board of directors. Among previous roles, Denman was president and CEO of Emotient, an authority on automated facial expression analysis, which was acquired by Apple in 2016. He serves as a general partner at Sway Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm investing in early- to mid-stage technology companies. In addition to Sway and TIFIN, he holds positions on several boards, including Costco Wholesale and Motorola Solutions. 

Private wealth advisor Kyle Rasmussen and financial advisor Nick Blasberg joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial. They joined from LPL Financial in Reinbeck, Iowa with over $105 million in client assets. 

Advyzon Investment Management named Scott Smith, former executive at Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon | Pershing, as chief revenue officer. Smith, who has over 20 years of industry experience, oversees sales, marketing, pricing, and revenue management, focusing on growth. 

Smith previously served as head of central division RIA custody sales at Goldman Sachs for the past three years. 

Johnson Financial Group appointed Evamarie Schoenborn to lead the US registered investment advisor, Johnson Wealth, as president. Schoenborn brought more than 20 years of investment management experience, most recently serving as CEO of US Bank Investments in Minneapolis. 

Stratos Wealth Advisors, an RIA, recruited Ohio-based Pistone Wealth Advisors into its embrace. Pistone is led by chief executive and president Karyn Pistone. The team also includes senior advisor Spencer Dieck, practice manager Linda Tekavec, and advisor David Taucher.

JP Morgan Asset Management appointed former BlackRock senior figure Shayan Hussain as its head of US investment specialists in its global fixed income, currency and commodities (GFICC) team. At BlackRock, Hussain was head of fundamental fixed income product strategy for the Americas. Based in New York, he will report to US chief investment officer of fixed income Kay Herr.

RBC Wealth Management welcomed Michael Taggart as managing director – financial advisor, and his team to its Florham Park office. Taggart, who has more than 35 years of industry experience, is the group’s founder. Joining from JP Morgan, the Taggart group also includes Dalia Bubbico a senior business associate, Jerry Azzollini a senior financial associate, and Ria Taggart a senior registered client associate.

Raymond James moves:
Raymond James welcomed a $1.3 billion former Morgan Stanley advisor team – comprising seven people – to its employee advisor channel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team includes financial advisors Nick Takahashi, James Zapotocky, Joshua Yocam, Luka Vasiljevic, Michael Ortega, Stephen Ellingsen and Sean Tsaconas, as well as senior client service associate Yalda Momeni. At Morgan Stanley, the group managed about $1.3 billion in client assets.

The firm also welcomed former Morgan Stanley financial advisor Kevin L Mize to its independent advisor channel. Based in Scotts Valley, California as Earthrise Financial, Mize was joined by client service associate Sebastian Henshaw. Previously, Mize was affiliated with Morgan Stanley where he managed over $200 million in client assets.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Devona Benavidez to its independent advisor channel. Benavidez joined the team at ZeroThreeSixtyTM Wealth Partners in Albuquerque, New Mexico, along with branch associates Mackenzie Merony and Jacqueline Martinez. 

Michigan-based financial advisor Michael Dempsey joined Raymond James. Operating in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Dempsey was previously at Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed over $200 million in client assets. He was joined by senior registered client service associate Lorraine Lalicata. 

A group of financial advisors in Anchorage, Alaska overseeing almost $600 million of clients’ assets, teamed up with Raymond James. The advisors are Keith Green and John Coon. Green was previously with Morgan Stanley, where he managed over $290 million in client assets. He leads Borealis Wealth Advisory of Raymond James and is joined by investment portfolio associate Christian Deykes. Coon managed about $308 million in client assets at Merrill Lynch and is joined by client service associates Gail Hill and Ally Berg.

Financial advisors John Meffert, Warren “Jud” Scroggie and Ross Davis joined the independent advisor channel of Raymond James. They joined from Merrill Lynch, overseeing about $490 million in assets.