A September roundup of North American wealth management moves. Prominent stories included changes at the top of Northern Trust, affecting its wealth management business.

Northern Trust made leadership changes in roles affecting asset servicing, wealth management and the family offices business. 

Steven L Fradkin, who has served in roles including president of wealth management, president of asset servicing, chief financial officer, and head of the international business, was named vice chairman of Northern Trust. 

CFO Jason Tyler, who became president of wealth management, was head of corporate strategy, asset management’s head of the institutional group, and wealth management CFO. David Fox, president of the global family and private investment offices group, was made chief financial officer. He served in roles such as head of the Americas for asset servicing and vice chairman of investment banking for JP Morgan. Peter B Cherecwich, president of asset servicing, moved to be chief operating officer, a newly-formed role. Finally, Teresa Parker deferred her previously-announced retirement to serve as president of asset servicing. Parker most recently served as president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). She has been based in London, Singapore and Chicago and has held executive leadership positions including CEO for asset servicing; head of the Asia-Pacific region; and global head of securities lending.

Commonwealth Financial Network, a US wealth manager, added new members to the Jacksonville, Florida-based Aegis Consulting that joined its network of affiliated advisors in 2023. The latest additions were Mark O’Sickey and Paul Solorzano. Like most of the Aegis team, O’Sickey and Solorzano were formerly affiliated with Osaic and its predecessor, Lincoln Financial Advisors, for a combined 31 years. O’Sickey is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and Solorzano is based in San Francisco, California.

Yayati, the wealthtech and investment management provider that is planning a fundraising round for the business, appointed Jerry Chafkin as chief investment officer. Chafkin is former CIO of AssetMark. 

US investment bank and wealth manager Oppenheimer & Co recruited Alan Richmond, executive director – investments, and Clayton Ellis, director – investments. They report to Phil Hall, executive director, who leads the firm's growth initiatives in Tennessee. Richmond and Ellis, who joined from B Riley, where they managed a wealth management services practice, have 15 and 17 years of financial services experience, respectively. 

Scottsdale, Arizona-headquartered Monetary Metals added gold investment experts Ronald-Peter Stöferle and Mark Valek to its advisory board.

Bank of America Private Bank appointed former Citi Private Bank figure Austin Koenen as a private client advisor, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Koenen serves UHNW families in Georgia, South Carolina and the broader Southeastern market. With more than 20 years’ experience under his belt, at Citi Private Bank Koenen built a £2.7 billion book of business.

RBC Wealth Management welcomed a 15-person team, known as the 770 Group, from UBS: 
-- William H Pahl, Jr, managing director – financial advisor; 
-- James Casey Jones, MD – financial advisor; 
-- Scott C Serafin, MD – financial advisor; 
-- Jefferson D Pace II, MD – financial advisor; 
-- Christine A Lizaso, senior vice president – financial advisor; 
-- John Ramsey, senior financial associate; 
-- Rob Joyner, senior financial associate; 
-- William Pahl, senior financial associate; 
-- Claire DuBow, senior business associate; 
-- Lauren Riepenhoff, senior investment associate; 
-- Shelley Davidson, senior investment associate; 
-- Brantley Geraghty, senior investment associate; 
-- Aranza Barajas, investment associate; 
-- Dorie Downs, client associate; and 
-- Parker Langham, client associate.

RIA Ballast Rock Private Wealth appointed Joe Miller as a wealth advisor; he is based in New Canaan, Connecticut. Prior to this, Miller was an advisor at Merrill Lynch. He began his career at Morgan Stanley as a fixed income specialist before moving to high yield and distressed corporate credit trading. 

Coller Capital, which manages private market secondaries investments, named Phil Gaechter as a director based in Chicago. He works in the private wealth secondaries solutions team. Gaechter reports to Jonathan McEvoy, managing director and head of US private wealth distribution. Gaechter spent more than 22 years at Nuveen, most recently within its private wealth advisory group, where he was responsible for fundraising efforts amongst private clients, private banks, and RIAs in the Central region of the US. 

Ocorian, which provides fund administration and corporate services, recruited Michael Gull as head of US funds sales. He is based in Ocorian’s New York office. Gull has worked in the sector for almost three decades at firms in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

Financial advisor George Elkin joined Cetera Advisor Networks, part of Cetera Financial Group, via North Ridge Wealth Planning with his nephew, Josh Elkin. The duo joined Cetera from American Portfolios, an Osaic company.

Vista Capital Partners, based in Portland, Oregon, appointed Dougal Williams as its new chief executive, taking the slot vacated by Doug Johanson, who now serves as chairman of the board of directors. Williams has served in various roles with Vista since 2004, most recently as chief wealth officer and lead advisor.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co added former Hirtle, Callaghan & Co senior figure Tom Spano to its multi-family office team in Philadelphia. Spano has more than 20 years’ investment sector experience. At Hirtle, Callaghan & Co he was responsible for leading family and institutional relationships in Philadelphia and across the Southeast of the US.

Patrick Cantlay, a top-10 world ranked professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour, became an investor and general partner in a fund run by LRE Management. The sportsman joined LRE’s inaugural LRE Opportunity Fund I; he is also a member of the company’s newly-formed advisory board.

Wealth Access, a wealth data technology firm, appointed Drew DiMarino as chief revenue officer. DiMarino, with almost three decades of experience, worked in financial and wealth sector businesses such as Riskalyze – now called Nitrogen Wealth. DiMarino also held executive positions at Apiture and eMoney Advisor.

Cetera Financial Group brought in a former UBS figure to its Wilde Wealth Management Group to head its newly-created W Family Office Division. Drew Kliber leads the organisation. 

Separately, a seven-person team, Innovative Premier Financial Services, joined Cetera Wealth Partners. The team is led by managing partners David and Kate Frank and serves about 500 clients. The Franks have served the Houston area since the early 1990s. 

Cerity Partners appointed Todd Cassler as its inaugural chief growth officer. He has worked in the financial services sector for more than 20 years. Most recently, Cassler served as chief strategy and growth officer at Mariner Wealth Advisors. 

TD Securities named John Comerford as managing director and head of quantitative strategy. Comerford previously worked at Credit Suisse.

Cresset, the US wealth management group, appointed former JP Morgan senior figure Amy Hong as its new chief compliance officer. Hong took over from Bob Pagliuco, who previously announced that he was retiring from a post he has held since 2018. Hong is based in San Francisco. Most recently, she was managing director, asset and wealth management operations, at JP Morgan. Before that, Hong was at First Republic Bank. (JP Morgan bought First Republic last year.)

Baird added Darrell Reynard as a director and financial advisor to its wealth management office in Fairfax, Virginia. Reynard, who has more than two decades of industry experience, was previously at Edelman Financial Engines where he managed over $293 million in assets. 

Wealth advisory firm WFA appointed two figures from the sports and broadcasting world. It added retired Cincinnati Bengals safety Brandon Wilson and former KSLA News 12 sports reporter Rashad Johnson. 

Gresham, a US investment and wealth management firm managing $9 billion for families and family offices, promoted Leisa Storbeck, a partner, to head of client service. Storbeck joined the Chicago-headquartered firm in 2005.

Bluespring Wealth Partners, which acquires RIAs and hybrid wealth management firms, appointed Pradeep Jayaraman as its new president. Stuart Silverman continues to serve as the firm’s chairman. Jayaraman, based in Austin, Texas, spent more than a decade at Focus Financial Partners. Most recently, he was co-head, partnerships and business developments, at that firm. 

Pipeline, which provides digital solutions for the life insurance and wealth management industries, appointed Joe Yurich as chief revenue officer. Prior to this role, Yurich spent five years at Zuora, an enterprise software company. 

London-headquartered Ninety One, a global asset manager, appointed Sangeeth Sewnath as managing director, Americas, based in New York. Sewnath replaced Philip Anker, who helped the firm build a platform and presence in the Americas. Anker left to pursue new opportunities after a transitional period. Sewnath, an investment industry veteran with 26 years’ experience, joined Ninety One in 2000.

Financial planning and investment advisor Charles Hahn joined Cetera Advisor Networks, part of Cetera Financial Group. Hahn has worked in the sector for 42 years.

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management named Mike Barnes as head of operations. Barnes has nearly 20 years’ leadership experience in the financial services business. He was formally at Ellevest as the head of financial operations, supporting $2 billion in client assets for digital and private wealth management platforms.

Raymond James roundup
Raymond James welcomed Garrison Financial Group to its network. The group is run by financial advisors Craig Garrison, Timothy Hall, and Matthew Strelau. The group, based in Littleton, Colorado, is supported by investment broker, Andrew Ekberg, client service associates Emily Gabriel, McKell Gurewitz, Misty Cummins, Andy Hackard, Jared Espinoza, Kate Kaye, and marketing consultant Katie Cline.

The firm also brought in financial advisor Miguel Velázquez to its employee advisor channel in The Woodlands, managed by branch manager Michael Mulloy. Velázquez was previously at Citigroup.

The firm added financial advisor Matt Bennett to its employee advisor channel in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was previously at Morgan Stanley. He and senior registered client service associate Danielle Rich operate as Matt Bennett of Raymond James. 

Financial advisor Terrence Medley joined Raymond James & Associates (RJA) – the firm's employee advisor channel ­– in San Jose, California. Medley arrived from Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed about $112 million in client assets; he was joined by financial advisor trainee Dan Medley. 

The business welcomed financial advisors Jaden Gurney, Trevor Hanson and Jonathan Rogers to its independent advisor channel. Previously, they worked at Zion Bank and LPL Financial where they managed about $1 billion in client assets. 

It welcomed financial advisors Chas Gualano and Andrew Comans to Raymond James Advisor Select within its employee advisor channel, in Brandon, Mississippi. The team serves business owners and family offices as Gualano Comans Wealth Advisors of Raymond James, part of RJA’s Brandon branch led by complex manager Bill Geary. They arrived from LPL Financial where they managed over $360 million in client assets and are joined by client service associate Nicole Schuh.