A roundup of senior moves in the North American wealth sector during August. While traditionally a vacation month, this was a busy period for moves and arrivals.

Financial advisor and investment manager, Nepsis, appointed Kelly Nanasy as its new vice president of accounting and advisory services. With over 30 years of experience as a financial leader, Nanasy started her journey as a certified public accountant with a large multinational accounting firm. She has since held key positions including CFO at ThreeBridge Solutions and Wausau Financial Systems, as well as vice president of finance at Deluxe Corporation.

RBC Wealth Management welcomed a financial advisor with $438 million in client assets to its Boulder, Colorado office. John Terrion, managing director – financial advisor, joined the firm from Merrill Lynch, along with support staff member Meagan Belford, investment associate. 

RBC Wealth Management welcomed a multi-generational team of financial professionals to its new branch in Cincinnati. The Paradigm Group joined from Morgan Stanley, where they managed approximately $693 million of client assets. The team includes:

-- Kyle McLaughlin, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, managing director – private wealth advisor; 
-- Joseph Goetzinger, senior vice president – financial advisor; 
-- Robert Hill, CPFA™, senior vice president – financial advisor corporate retirement director; 
-- Terry Regan, CIMA®, first vice president – financial advisor; 
-- Brandon Vornhagen, financial advisor; 
-- Mary Lynn Bosway, senior financial associate; 
-- Sam Mayne, senior business associate; 
-- Maureen Regan, registered client associate; and 
-- Suzi Wood, client associate.

Baird added Brad L Spencer as vice president and financial advisor to its wealth management office in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Spencer, who has more than 25 years of industry experience, was previously at RBC Capital Markets, where he managed over $206 million in assets. He was joined by client assistant and daughter, Jordan L Spencer.

Americana Partners, a $7.5 billion Texas wealth advisor and a member of the Dynasty Network, welcomed Javier Altimari as founder and managing partner of its international division, Americana Partners International (API). Altimari, who is based in Houston, is a member of the API board, along with Jorge Suárez-Vélez, founder and CEO. Previously, Altimari was a senior director and portfolio manager at Oppenheimer & Co.

Wellspring Financial Advisors appointed Jeff Kadlic as its new president and chief operating officer. Kadlic, who was formerly a founding partner at Evolution Capital Partners, has more than 25 years of professional experience across disciplines, including strategic leadership, operational management, client relations, alternative investments, financial management and stakeholder engagement.

EP Wealth Advisors, an RIA, appointed Megan Glover as the firm’s first chief people officer to join their executive team. Glover has more than 20 years of experience leading all facets of human resources strategy. Glover most recently served as managing director and chief human resources officer for SMBC MANUBANK, a Los Angeles-based bank with over 800 employees. 

MetLife Investment Management (MIM), the institutional asset management business of MetLife, named Jude Driscoll as its president. Previously serving as MIM’s global head of fixed income and private capital, Driscoll continues to report to John McCallion, MetLife’s chief financial officer and head of MetLife Investment Management. Driscoll joined MIM in 2017 following its acquisition of Logan Circle Partners, where he was founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer. 

Advisor360°, a provider of technology for wealth managers, appointed Dena Upton as chief people officer. Upton, who has more than 25 years’ experience in leadership, most recently served as head of people at Dandy, a software company. 

Karen DeBaker joined the independent Ameriprise practice, Threshold Financial Partners, based in De Pere, Wisconsin. DeBaker brought 10 years’ experience as a financial advisor, most recently at Raymond James.

Raymond James
Raymond James reorganized its regional structure within its Raymond James & Associates Private Client Group (RJA), taking effect from the start of October. Tom Walrond became RJA PCG president on the same date. Eastern division regional director Kelly Anderson leads the Northeast Division as division director, maintaining her current area of responsibility. Eastern division regional director Tim Killgoar became division director for the Southeast division. Central division director Patrick O’Connor was promoted to RJA chief operating officer. Central division regional director Mike O’Meara succeeded O’Connor, while Bert White remained at the helm in the western division.

RJA PCG chief operating officer for strategic initiatives Michael Tormey joined COO Kim Jenson’s team as managing director, PCG strategic initiatives, expanding the scope of his work to all of the wealth management businesses.

Raymond James welcomed the wealth advisory team of Security Wealth Management, located at Security Savings Bank, to its Financial Institutions Division (FID). Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the group includes financial advisors Jon Gadberry, Brad Jarabek and Sean Powell. They were joined by registered representative Tim Houska and client service manager Joshua Reid. The group, which manages about $165 million in client assets, was previously affiliated with LPL Financial.

Separately, Raymond James welcomed Jacob Schmidt, Daniel Schmidt, and Matthew Schmidt, to its employee advisor channel in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team arrived from Baird, where it managed over $290 million in client assets, and is joined by senior client service associate Jennifer Taylor and client service associate Kristina Stuller.

The firm welcomed financial advisor Joanna Knieberg to its employee advisor channel in Frisco, Texas. As Knieberg Wealth Strategies of Raymond James, she serves business owners, corporate executives, families and individuals from RJA’s Frisco branch, led by branch manager Jon Blair. Knieberg, who has 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, began her career at Wells Fargo Advisors in 2004. She was previously at JP Morgan for 12 years, where she managed more than $150 million in client assets. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Brett Goldstein to its employee advisor channel in New York. Arriving from LPL Financial, Goldstein managed more than $245 million in client assets. As Brett Goldstein of Raymond James, he serves families and individuals, retirees, business owners and corporate retirement plans as a part of RJA’s New York branch, led by complex manager Judson Potter.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Gary Perl and Katie Janda to its employee advisor channel. The team, formerly at Morgan Stanley where they managed over $360 million in assets, was joined by practice business manager Sharon Brown and client service associate Elisabeth Perl. As The Perl Group of Raymond James, they operate from offices in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Fort Collins, Colorado as part of RJA’s Ponte Vedra Beach branch. 

RBC Wealth Management – US also hired former Merrill Lynch figure Marcel TenBerge to be director of its Southern California complex, where he leads 11 branch offices and 215 employees in the region. TenBerge draws on more than 24 years of experience in the wealth management industry. He most recently served as the Pasadena Central Valley market executive for Merrill Lynch

Summit Trail Advisors appointed Paul Hoskin as partner and advisor in Newport Beach, California. Hoskin was a Key Client Group advisor based in Newport Beach, managing over $500 million in assets while providing advisory services to business owners and UHNW families. Previously, he worked at Citibank and US Trust.

Russell Investments hired Ayesha Parra as global head of alternatives to lead the global business strategy for the firm’s alternatives platform. Based in the New York office, Parra also serves as a member of the organization’s operating committee. Prior to joining Russell Investments, Parra spent 19 years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), where she served in several leadership positions across various business units, most recently playing a key role in the general partner stakes team within the external investing group.  

Bank of America added Luke Palacio as Miami senior market executive for Miami in its private banking operations. This is a new role for the firm. Palacio has more than 25 years of experience working with family offices, private equity and hedge fund firms within the Miami market. He reports to Hong Ogle, Southeast and Southwest division executive at Bank of America Private Bank. Prior to this role, Palacio worked at Citi Private Bank where he was most recently MD and global market manager for the Southern US. 

Fiduciary Trust International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, appointed Kevin F Flood as a senior relationship manager in its New York office. Flood has more than three decades of private wealth management expertisel. He spent more than a decade as senior vice president and senior wealth advisor at Wilmington Trust, and held vice president positions at US Trust/Bank of America and at Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Nepsis®, a Minneapolis-headquartered national financial advisor and investment management firm, appointed Troy Williams, a financial services industry expert, to the newly-created position of senior vice president of strategy and corporate development. He reports to Matt Pearson, president at Nepsis®. Williams, who has more than 15 years’ experience, joined from US Bancorp.

Kestra Private Wealth Services, an RIA headquartered in Austin, Texas, added Rachel Eisenhart, in partnership with Alexandria, Virginia-based HF3 Wealth Partners, which joined the Kestra network in 2022. 

John Hancock Investment Management, part of Manulife Investment Management, added two new independent trustees to the board of trustees of the John Hancock Group of Funds. The trustees – William K Bacic and Thomas R Wright â€“ bring expertise in accounting and audit, and capital markets and trading.

Petra Funds Group, a New York-headquartered private funds administrator, added Nicholas Gajdjis as a senior advisor. Gajdjis joined after nearly four decades at EY, where he worked with financial services and investment management firms. 

Ameriprise Financial appointed former UBS financial advisor Michael Walstien to join its branch channel. He oversees $150 million in assets in Wayzata, Minnesota. He was joined client service associate Kaeli Williams. They are supported locally by Ameriprise complex director Adam Lukens and Ameriprise regional vice president Mitch Doren.

Carnegie Investment Counsel, an RIA, hired Wendy Eldridge as a retirement plan advisor. Eldridge has almost 25 years’ experience in the retirement plan and financial services industry.

iPipeline, which provides digital solutions for the life insurance and wealth management industries, appointed technology strategy leader, Steve Cover, as chief technology officer. Cover has more than 30 years of knowledge and experience of leading technology teams, including firms such as UKG, Horizon Software International, UnitedHealth Group, Microsoft, and, most recently, CentralSquare Technologies. Cover reports to CEO Pat O’Donnell.