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

Raymond James 
Raymond James has welcomed financial advisor Joel Mitchell to its independent advisor channel in Spokane, Washington.

As founder of Leading Light Wealth Management, Mitchell’s clients include business owners, individuals with sudden wealth, those planning for or living in retirement and corporate retirement plans. 

He is joined at the practice by registered office manager Jenifer Champlin. Previously, they were affiliated with Edward Jones and managed about $225 million in client assets.

MiddleGround Capital
MiddleGround Capital, a private equity firm that focuses on middle-market business-to-business industrial and speciality distribution firms, has hired Jonathan La as chief financial officer. 

La reports to Christopher Speight, partner, and works in MiddleGround’s New York office. He began the position in February 2025.

Additionally, La leads the accounting and fund accounting teams for MiddleGround’s US and European offices. 

Prior to this, La worked for 25 years in the private equity industry, including serving for 17 years at Monomoy Capital Partners as director of finance. Prior to Monomoy, he worked at Evercore Partners, where he helped transition the books and records of the private equity funds in-house for IPOs. Before that, he was at BISYS, a private equity fund administrator.

Bleakley Financial Group
Bleakley Financial Group, has added two advisory teams from Northwestern Mutual. Together, these teams represent more than $1 billion in client assets.

Among the incoming teams is Miller Financial Services, led by founder Jeff Miller, alongside partners Chris Glasscock and Colin Smith. Glasscock and Smith are equity partners and with a national client base spanning more than 40 states; they operate from offices in Richmond, Virginia and St Petersburg, Florida, with plans to open a Sarasota, Florida location in 2026.