A round-up of senior moves, appointments, personnel changes and other news around senior roles in the North American wealth management sector.

Raymond James 
The firm brought in financial advisor Lynette Ancona to its business in Winter Park, Florida. Ancona leads Ancona Wealth Management of Raymond James and was joined by client service associate Stephanie Gisler. Ancona arrived from Charles Schwab, where she managed more than $750 million in client assets.

It also welcomed financial advisor Martin Lutschaunig to its independent advisor channel. As president of Lutschaunig Wealth Management in Yardley, Pennsylvania, Lutschaunig was joined by branch manager Patricia Niles. 

The firm’s Financial Institutions Division brought in financial advisor Joseph L Martinez to Pinnacle Asset Management â€“ a FID-affiliated branch â€“ located at Pinnacle Financial Partners. Martinez offers clients financial planning and wealth management services through Raymond James Financial Services. Martinez, who was joined by registered client services associate Lucy Chism, previously managed about $243 million in client assets at Wells Fargo Advisors. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Steven Hocking, CFP®, Jennifer Hocking and Ryan Mueller, to its employee advisor channel. The advisors operate from Irvine, California, under the brand of THG Retirement Solutions of Raymond James. They were joined by senior client service associate Jennifer Uy and service and marketing specialist Karla Castro. They previously managed over $300 million in client assets at UBS.

Paul Shoukry, chief executive, was named president of Raymond James, taking over from Paul Reilly in 2025.

Shoukry, who is only the fourth CEO in Raymond James’ history, will retain his existing role until he takes on the CEO position. Shoukry started with Raymond James 14 years ago, working for Tom James and Paul Reilly in the “Assistant to the Chair” program. He had served as CFO since January 2020. Prior to joining Raymond James, Shoukry worked for a strategy consulting firm that served clients in the financial services industry. 

Jeff Dowdle announced that he would be retiring and stepping down as chief operating officer at the end of the fiscal year. As part of this change, Raymond James Financial private client group president Scott Curtis will become COO of Raymond James Financial, Raymond James & Associates. CEO Tash Elwyn will become president of the private client group, and global equities and investment banking president Jim Bunn will become president of the capital markets segment. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Laura Blanton to its employee advisor channel in Greenville, South Carolina, led by complex manager Brian Flemmer. Blanton leads Blanton Wealth Management of Raymond James, alongside client service associate Bethany Hermelin. Starting her career in 2002, Blanton initially worked at AG Edwards, which later became Wells Fargo Advisors. She became a financial advisor with the company in 2014. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor James Williams to its independent advisor channel. He is a founding partner at Coastal Oak Wealth Advisors in Jacksonville, Florida. Previously, he managed over $235 million in client assets at UBS Private Wealth Management.

In another hire, Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Eric G Werner and Vincent "Randy" Whatley to its employee advisor channel in Hanover, New Hampshire, reporting to Kelly Anderson, Northeast regional director for RJA. The advisors, who previously managed approximately $350 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley, were joined by senior registered client associate Alyssa Kerins. 

The firm brought in financial advisor Andrew M Spearman to its employee advisor channel. Based in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, near Detroit, Spearman previously managed about $100 million in client assets at SageView Advisory Group. He is part of the firm’s Eastern Michigan complex.

Others

Rockefeller Global Family Office added Pollock Salah Wealth Partners, co-located in Walnut Creek and San Francisco, California. The firm – comprising six people led by private advisors Gary Pollock, Craig Pollock, and Anis Salah – joined from JP Morgan Wealth Management. The group reports to Brian Riley, western divisional director; it also includes financial analyst Annette Smith, senior client associate Maryann Jensen, and registered client associate Ethan Huang. 

Ramapo Wealth Advisors appointed Alejandro Tirso as partner and wealth advisor. Tirso is based in the firm's Ramsey office serving clients throughout the New Jersey area. Tirso’s career started at UBS and was followed by stints at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. For the past eight years, he was a market consultant at Invesco.

Citi Private Bank named former UBS senior figure Richard Weintraub as head of the family office group for the Americas. At UBS, he was at the Swiss bank’s global family and institutional wealth team. Prior to UBS, Weintraub led new business for a cross-asset sales and trading entity at Goldman Sachs and was a founding member of the US firm’s middle-market sales and trading team, which covered institutional family offices and other clients. He is based in New York and reports to Hannes Hofmann, who heads the family offices group globally. 

Amanda Ens (North America), Stefano Gilotti (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Stephan Lanz (Asia) also joined the global family office team from the solutions team, reporting to the respective GFO cluster heads. They worked under the leadership of Lorenzo Frontini, vice chairman of the global family office.

TIFIN, an AI and innovation platform for the wealth sector, appointed Brooke Juniper as chief executive Sage, its AI-driven platform that acts as a personalized chief investment office. Before joining Sage, Juniper spent 16 years at BlackRock, where she was most recently head of digital engagement.

Baltimore-headquartered Brown Advisory appointed Eliza Erikson as a partner and head of impact investing and advice for the firm's Private Client, Endowment & Foundations business, based in Washington.

Erikson has had an investing career with 20 years’ experience across a range of asset classes and industries. Erikson was formerly the managing director and member of the investment leadership team of a large multi-generational family office where she focused on impact investing and led a team and platform operating across asset classes, strategies and portfolios. Previously, Erikson was an investment partner at Omidyar Network, the impact investing vehicle of eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar.

Fiduciary Trust International appointed Maris A Ogg and Jeffrey M Bagley as managing director and senior portfolio manager, respectively, based in its Radnor, Pennsylvania office.

Ogg has more than 35 years of experience in the wealth and investment management industry. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, she served as founding principal and director of Tower Bridge Advisors. Bagley, who joined frrom The Haverford Trust Company, has more than three decades of experience in the wealth and investment management industry. 

The private wealth management arm of Baird added The Palm Financial Group to its Madison West office in Wisconsin. Palm was previously with UBS and managed $680 million of assets.

Team members at Palm include Michael Palm, Matthew Palm and Nicholas Palm, who joined as financial advisors. They are supported by Kirk Hager, accredited financial analyst, client specialist Courtney Justmann and client assistant Michele Dahlk. 

Nomura put its asset and investment management capabilities in the Americas under a new brand: Nomura Capital Management. Robert Stark, former CEO of NPC, serves as chief executive of NCM overseeing the build-out of strategy and organization. He also chairs the executive committee which includes David Crall (NCRAM CEO and chief investment officer) who continues to lead NCRAM; Matthew Pallai (NPC CIO) who serves as chief investment officer of NCM; and Yuichi Nomoto (Nomura Asset Management USA (NAM USA) CEO) who continues to lead NAM USA, as it manages NAM strategies and distribution to Japan.

A group of women formed a Chicago-based RIA, Expressive Wealth. The founders are Vanessa N Martinez, Lauren Genuardi, and Darlene Duncan. Martinez is chief executive and managing partner, Genuardi is chief compliance officer and MP, and Duncan is wealth advisor and partner.

RFG Advisory, a US RIA, named Abby Salameh as chief growth officer. She has worked in building growth services for financial advisors for more than 25 years. Salameh was joined by behavioral finance trailblazer Brendan Frazier, the incoming chief behavioral officer. Kenneth J Kim, chief financial officer, also joined the team. Previously he was the head of corporate development and strategy for North America at FNZ (via the YieldX acquisition). 

Chicago-headquartered Mesirow appointed Brian D Price as as CEO of Mesirow Wealth Management. Price joined Mesirow in 2006. His roles included president and chief operating officer of investment banking and head of advisory services. Since November 2022, Price served ad interim as wealth management head.

UBS in the US moved several of its senior managers to new wealth roles, building out offerings for small business owners, and sportsmen and women, among others. Frank Minerva assumed the role of head of field sales and execution, leading a newly-established team of divisional sales managers aligned to cover UBS’s wealth management and private wealth management advisors.

Other changes:  

-- Bianca Benedetti-Fang serves as the divisional sales manager for wealth management “East”; 
-- Michelle Fenske became the DSM for wealth management “West”; and 
-- James Jack became the DSM for private wealth management “East”. 

In other moves, Brian Hess became head, content and field distribution, focused on the coordinated distribution of marketing and execution resources across national sales and the firm’s GWM-aligned product areas. 

Patrick Breen leads a newly-established team as head, business strategy and sales origination, focusing on driving change initiatives across the organization centered on sales enablement and business development, working closely with STAAT and the firm’s GWM-aligned product areas. Wale Ogunleye became head of client growth and development, sports and entertainment, with expanded client responsibilities; James Jack, adding to his DSM responsibilities, continues to serve as a senior resource supporting business owner and ESOP clients; and Carey Shuffman is strategic marketing manager, head of women’s wealth US, reporting to Alicia Curry, head of strategic marketing for GWM Americas.

Rockefeller Capital Management appointed Christopher Kirk as head of investment and client solutions. He holds the post of managing director. Most recently, at Wellington Management, Kirk served as president of both Wellington Alternative Investments and Wellington Funds US, with responsibilities for business and investment performance. He now reports to Eric Heaton, head of finance, risk management, and strategy. In addition, Kirk has reporting lines to Gregory Fleming, president and chief executive, for major strategic projects and initiatives, and Edmond Moriarty III, EVP and chief operating officer, for cross-business coordination.

Kirk also partners with Christopher Dupuy, president of the Rockefeller Global Family Office, and private advisors on developing and maintaining a preeminent investment platform and leading solutions for clients. Before joining Wellington Management in 2004, Kirk was a director in the investment banking division at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Ameriprise brought in financial advisors Jim Guthrie and Stephen Rouner, joining from Merrill Lynch with $320 million of client assets. They are based in Tacoma, Washington.