The latest moves and appointments in wealth management in the Americas.

Wilshire
Wilshire, a US-headquartered global financial services firm, has appointed wealth management figure Chip Castille (pictured below) as product strategy head – a newly-formed role. Castille first joined the firm in 2000 before heading to other roles.

Castille, who took up the post on January 9, reports to Jason Schwarz, deputy CEO and president of Wilshire. 

In total, Castille has worked for more than 30 years in the financial services sector. Most recently, he founded GoalBased Investors, a platform connecting retail investors, RIAs and investment managers. Prior to that, he led the defined contribution business at BGI (later acquired by BlackRock). Castille worked at Wilshire as a managing director before being named chief investment officer of Wilshire Funds Management, where he built Wilshire’s multi-asset, multi-manager investment platform.

Wilshire advises on over $1.2 trillion in assets and managed $86 billion in assets as of September 30, 2023.

Bernstein
Bernstein Private Wealth Management, a unit of AllianceBernstein, has appointed two managing directors in its Tampa and San Diego markets: Blake Poole and Kristine Wexler, respectively. 

Poole and Wexler have also been named as principals in the firm.

Poole has15 years of experience, including over five years' tenure at Bernstein. Prior to Bernstein, Poole served at the Kraft Heinz Company and JP Morgan’s Private Bank.

Wexler, who has more than 24 years of wealth management experience, is joining the San Diego office from Bernstein in Chicago where, as an advisor, she had a special focus on female wealth creators. Prior to Bernstein she was at Bessemer Trust in New York and Chicago.

Rick Meyers is head of client and advisory at Bernstein.

Antares
Antares Capital, an alternative asset manager with more than $67 billion in capital under management and administration, is planning to push into the US wealth management space, it announced yesterday.

The business has appointed Jack Snyder as managing director, head of US wealth distribution. The role is a new one for the firm, it said in a statement.

Snyder, who will oversee the launch of Antares’ private wealth strategy, is based in New York and reports to Vivek Mathew, head of asset management.

“Private wealth is an important driver of our growth strategy, and Jack’s addition will be critical in meeting the demand for alternative credit solutions in the private wealth channel,” Vivek Mathew, head of asset management at Antares, said. 

Snyder previously served as MD, national sales manager for wirehouse and RIA channels and head of retail alternatives sales for First Eagle Investments. Prior to this role, he worked as MD, East regional manager, global private client group for Nuveen Investments.

“The US wealth channel represents a vast market opportunity for alternative credit, which is why I’m excited to join Antares and build out their wealth platform,” Snyder said.

Antares has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London.

Ameriprise Financial
Ameriprise Financial, the New York-listed group, said yesterday that financial advisor Roberto Vargas has moved his practice from JP Morgan Securities, where he managed over $100 million in client assets. 

Vargas chose to join Centennial Financial Services, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise, within the Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group in Jupiter, Florida.  

Centennial Bank’s investment program, Centennial Financial Services, includes a team of 25 advisors who help clients manage over $1.5 billion in combined brokerage assets. Centennial Bank has locations in Arkansas, Florida, South Alabama, Texas, and New York.