People Moves

Summary Of North American Executive Moves In Wealth Management – September 2023

Editorial Staff December 7, 2023

Summary Of North American Executive Moves In Wealth Management – September 2023

September saw a number of senior moves at organizations such as Rockefeller and Pitcairn,

Fidelis Capital brought in a team of advisors from Bank of America Private Bank, overseeing more than $4.5 billion of client money.

The team of five people, which has launched with an office in Washington DC, includes: 

-- Christopher F Tate, partner, wealth strategist; 
-- Michael J Sellers, partner, portfolio manager; 
-- Benjamin A Hilyard, partner, fiduciary specialist; 
-- Aaron J Wall, partner, portfolio manager; and 
-- Ashley Connor, client service associate.

Fidelis Capital also appointed Christopher Gunster to lead its fixed income initiative. He was most recently at Bank of America as managing director and head of fixed income portfolio management for BoA’s chief investment office. 

Ballast Rock Private Wealth, the RIA, appointed Jim Carroll as a senior wealth advisor and portfolio manager. Carroll, based in Charleston, was most recently senior vice president and portfolio manager at Toroso Advisors, which he joined in June 2019. Previously, he founded Long Run Capital Management in 2003 to manage investments for HNW families and related trusts and charitable vehicles.

Oppenheimer & Co, the New York-listed wealth manager and investment bank, added 10 members to its distressed debt team. The team, which joined from TD Cowen, combined with Oppenheimer's high-yield desk. It is led by managing director Jay McDermott, reporting to Peter Albano, senior MD and global head of fixed income. In addition to TD Cowen, McDermott has worked for Bear Stearns, RBS and Debtstream Corp over the course of his more than 25-year career. 

The members include:

-- Tim Cavanaugh, MD, loan sales and sourcing; 
-- Michael Kasper, MD, sales; 
-- Harvey Potter, MD, sales; 
-- Eric Friel, head of high yield and distressed research; 
-- David Kelley, head of distressed trading; 
-- Ron Ryder, head of special assets; 
-- Jon Satran, head of bank loans; 
-- Matt Feldman, executive director, research; 
-- Francesca Sena, executive director, legal; and 
-- Brian Smyth, associate – research/sourcing.

Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance (EBFAF) – part of Emigrant Bank –  appointed Suzanne Gyorgy as a partner. She was previously at Citigroup where she had spent 14 years at the private bank as global head of art advisory and finance.

Savvy Advisors, the national RIA affiliate of Savvy Wealth, brought in Frank Remund as principal wealth manager. Remund, who left Springwater Wealth Management, is based in Boise, Idaho.

Two financial advisors who had both worked together at Edward Jones have reunited to join the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial, which holds almost $150 million of client assets in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Josh Perello is joining from Raymond James and Jimmy Guidry is joining from Edward Jones, Ameriprise said in a statement this week.

Argent Trust Company hired Vince Chamblee as a senior vice president and wealth advisor. Based in Oxford, Mississippi, Chamblee reports to Brooks Campany, Oxford market president. Chamblee has over 13 years of experience within the financial services industry. Jennifer O’Connell also joined Argent Trust Company as a trust officer to assist with trust and estate planning. 
 


Global business advisory firm EisnerAmper appointed Tami Clemenza as a partner in its forensic, litigation and valuation services group. Clemenza has more than three decades of experience providing forensic accounting services, focusing on matrimonial litigation support and dispute resolution. 

Hamilton Lane a global private markets investment management firm, appointed long-time executives Erik Hirsch and Juan Delgado-Moreira as co-chief executive officers. They succeed Mario Giannini, who, after 22 years as Hamilton Lane’s CEO, has left. They joined Hartley Rogers – chairman of the board since 2005 – as executive co-chairmen.

Rockefeller Global Family Office, part of Rockefeller Capital Management, added North Carolina-based Decision Point Wealth Partners. The firm is led by private advisor and managing director Chad Pearson and senior vice presidents and private advisors Donis Smith and Paul Patterson. The six-person team also includes wealth manager Riley Stephenson; senior client relationship manager Jillian Dempsey; and client associate Courtenay Bickler. The group, which was previously at UBS, report to Kristen Sario, Southeast divisional director.

Foundation Source, a US-based provider of cloud-based SaaS foundation management services, appointed Joseph Mrak III as CEO. He took over from Sunil Garga, who led the company for the past two and a half years. Mrak is a former global head of wealth solutions at Refinitiv. During his stint at the firm – now owned by the London Stock Exchange Group – the organization pushed further into the wealth management space.

JP Morgan Private Bank appointed a former Citi Private Bank trio of advisors. Based in Seattle, Washington, the joiners are Olive Goh, James Harding and Jorge Valcarcel. They report to Tim Howell, managing director and Seattle market manager at the private bank. 

AmeriServ Trust and Financial Services Company, promoted David Finui as president and CEO. Finui, whose banking and financial services experience spans more than 40 years, joined AmeriServ in 2016. He was mostly recently executive vice president, director of wealth capital management. 

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, aka KKR & Co, appointed Kimberly A Ross to join its board of directors. Ross is the former chief financial officer of several public companies, including WeWork, Baker Hughes Company, Avon Products, and Royal Ahold.

Financial services firm Edward Jones welcomed financial advisor Andrew Furste, who has more than 15 years’ industry experience and is based in Albuquerque. Previously, Furste worked at Charles Schwab for nearly 14 years where he advised clients on a broad range of financial topics. Before joining the financial services industry, he served in the US military. 

Door, a firm working with wealth managers and other financial players to help them research funds and carry out due diligence work, appointed former Columbia Threadneedle Investments senior figure Joe Kringdon as head of North America. Kringdon was head of US distribution. Before this, he worked at Pioneer Investments, Putnam and Smith Barney in senior roles.

Pitcairn said Andrew L Busser, president at the family office, took the CEO role from Leslie Voth who continued as chairman of Pitcairn Trust Company. In December 2021, Voth told the board she wished to retire at the end of 2023. Before joining Pitcairn in 2015, Busser was a partner at Symphony Capital, a healthcare-focused investment manager of private equity and hedge funds.

Arta Finance, a digital family office and US registered investment advisor firm, appointed former GE Asset Management chief investment officer Tomas Arlia as CIO, head of alternative investments. 

Gresham Partners, a Chicago-headquartered wealth manager, promoted Allison Lurie to partner. She is director of operations and has worked at the firm for 14 years.

Arthur J Gallagher & Co, which provides insurance brokerage, risk management, and consulting services, named Steve Coco as its new global Human Resource & Compensation Consulting managing director. Coco is the chief revenue officer at Buck, where he is responsible for revenue growth including Buck sales, account management, marketing, client strategy, and technology, innovation and thought leadership.

Indefi, a strategy advisor for asset managers, appointed Jim McCaughan as US practice leader. He is the former chief executive of Principal Asset Management. 

Wealth.com, the estate planning platform, appointed Brian Hamburger as its second strategic advisor. Hamburger is the founder, president and chief executive officer of MarketCounsel, and has spent the past 20 years calling for solutions that address the challenges advisors face in a fast-growing and highly regulated industry. 

Raymond James
The firm welcomed a team of financial advisors and two branch professionals to the firm's employee advisor channel in Slidell, Louisiana. 

Operating as Meyer Rotolo Wealth Management of Raymond James, the team's advisors include John W Meyer, Kevin Rotolo, Don Gallaty II, David Jacob Indest, and Chad P Dusang. They previously worked at Merrill Lynch, where they managed over $500 million in client assets.

The business also brought in financial advisors Scott T Mulford and Melissa Minikes to the firm’s independent advisor channel. The financial advisors, who are based in Massapequa Park, New York, arrived from Wells Fargo Advisors where they managed over $170 million in client assets.

Raymond James also welcomed financial advisors Mary E Brammer and Rebecca Dickerson to its employee advisor channel in Fort Worth, Texas. 

The advisor duo, who operate as Brammer Dickerson Wealth Management of Raymond James, previously managed more than $205 million in client assets at Merrill Lynch. 

The firm also announced that it had brought in advisor Eric Hanson to its employee advisor channel, in Bethesda, Maryland. Hanson came from UBS Financial Services.

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