The latest moves, appointments and personnel changes in the North American wealth management sector.

Baird
Baird has added Robert Choy (main picture) as a director and financial advisor to a new office opening in Santa Clara, California. Choy used to work at Edelman Financial Engines, where he managed $150 million of assets.

Choy, who has more than 15 years of industry experience, in the past worked for Fidelity Investments and Merrill Lynch. He holds Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA®) designations.

In addition to Santa Clara, Baird has four private wealth management offices in the state in Grass Valley, Mill Valley (Marin County), Roseville, and Sacramento. 

InspereX
InspereX, the tech-driven fixed income and structured products distribution and trading firm, has appointed Brandon Laczkowski as managing director, head of RIA sales. Laczkowski will report to Deryk Rhodes, managing director and head of wealth management solutions.

Laczkowski is rejoining the firm from HRC Financial Group, where he covered RIAs. Previously, he worked for InspereX (formerly Incapital) from 2014 to 2016 as a member of the structured product wholesaling team.

Prior to joining HRC Financial Group, he spent eight years working at investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

FNZ
FNZ, a wealth management tech platform, has unveiled an exeutive committee appointment for New York.

Ryan Beach has joined as group head for North America, based in Nebraska, reporting to group president, Roman Regelman. Beach brings nearly 20 years of executive leadership experience across wealth management, investment platforms and fintech. Previously, he was CEO of F2 Strategy and, before that, president and chief operating officer at Orion.

FNZ said Beach’s appointment highlights its North American growth goals, as seen by its partnership with clients such as BMO and Raymond James.

Kestra
RIA Kestra Private Wealth Services said yesterday that Tim Semke has joined its cluster of independent financial professionals in partnership with Kindred Wealth Partners, a Pennsylvania-based wealth management firm affiliated with Kestra PWS.

Semke brings over 20 years of industry experience and $185 million in client assets under management from Kindred. 

BNY Wealth
BNY Wealth has named Alvina Lo as head of advice planning and fiduciary services. 

In her role, Lo will focus on wealth strategy and advice planning, the firm said in a statement via its Linkedin page yesterday. 

Lo is a “seasoned executive specializing in trust and estate planning, succession planning and family office services,” the US firm said. She is also a published author, a frequent lecturer at industry conferences, and a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.