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

PPB Capital Partners
PPB Capital Partners, an investments platform that connects wealth advisors to private markets solutions, is partnering with long-standing asset management professional, David Silvera, who has worked in the sector since 1990. His career spans private equity, real estate credit, alternative asset management, corporate development, M&A advisory, and capital formation.

Silvera has held leadership positions at top asset management firms, including serving as president, managing partner at Lubert Adler Partners; head of alternative real estate asset management at ORIX Corporation USA; and chief operating officer – head of corporate development at Angel Oak Capital Advisors.

Baker Street Advisors
Baker Street Advisors, an RIA with $20 billion in client assets under advisement, has appointed Christopher Wilkens to the newly-formed role of CEO, and appointed its chief investment officer, Peter Hand, as a partner.

Wilkens has been a partner at Baker Street since 2007. Before this, he co-founded and co-managed VERITY Wealth Advisors. Before that, Wilkins spent 10 years as an institutional derivatives salesperson and served in sales roles at Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs.

Hand joined Baker Street as CIO in 2024. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at prominent industry firms such as Aperio Group and Barclays Global Investors, both now part of BlackRock.

Baird
Baird has promoted John Melick (pictured below) to market director, overseeing the firm’s Birmingham, Columbus (Grandview Heights), Columbus (Easton), Toledo, Findlay, and Akron wealth management offices in Ohio. 

John Melick

Melick has over four decades of industry experience. He joined Baird’s Private Wealth Management business in January of 2018 when he founded the Toledo, Ohio, office. Before joining Baird, Melick worked at Wells Fargo Advisors and started his career in 1984 as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley. 

The business also promoted Ally Shuman (pictured below) to market director. She will oversee the firm’s private wealth management offices in Edina, Minnetonka, Rochester, and St Paul, Minnesota.; La Crosse and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Sioux City, Iowa. 

Ally Shuman

Shuman is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in the space. She most recently served as a branch manager of Baird’s Edina, Minnesota., wealth management office. Shuman joined Baird from Wells Fargo Advisors.

Raymond James
Raymond James Financial Institutions Division recently welcomed financial advisors Marsha Clark, Kevin Clifford, Nick Hennessy and Ed Kerley, to First Investments & Planning, located at FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha).

Based in the Kansas City area and operating from local offices, the advisors collectively manage about $420 million in client assets. They were previously affiliated with Money Concepts Capital Corp. as part of Country Club Bank, which was acquired by FNBO in October.

The Delaware valley complex of Raymond James has appointed Thomas Simcik as its manager. He joins after a 17-year tenure with Janney Montgomery Scott.

Before joining Janney in 2008, Simcik was regional manager for Legg Mason Wood Walker and served in management roles at Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch, where he began his career as a financial advisor in 1983. 

The Delaware operation supports branches in the state Delaware and across the greater Philadelphia region.