The latest senior wealth management executive moves in North America.

Golden State Wealth Management has appointed, Brian Matz of Matz Wealth Management, located in Agoura Hills, California.

Matz, who has joined from Wedbush Securities, has over two decades of experience in the financial services industry.

A Southern California native, Matz started with Dean Witter, which later became Morgan Stanley. From there, he has worked with Smith Barney, US Bank (where he was involved in private banking developing strategies for lending/investment opportunities), and on to Wells Fargo. 

The Golden State family of companies are SEC-registered investment advisors. The firm’s initial company was founded in 2013 by a group of executives who collectively contribute over 50 years of industry experience and has partnered with advisors serving over $1.7 billion in brokerage and advisory assets as of April 2020. The firms are aligned with LPL Financial, Raymond James, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab.

Raymond James
The financial institutions arm of Raymond James has appointed Steve Kruchten as its new Central division director of relationship management.

Kruchten will support recruitment, retention, bank and credit union programs, and advisors in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Working in the financial services sector for more than 33 years, Kruchten served as president and branch manager of Bremer Investments, a division of Bremer Bank. In that role, Kruchten oversaw the overall strategy and performance of the business, which included 50 employees and advisors across Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Other roles included those of an account manager at a third-party marketing firm serving over 50 banks; a financial consultant with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch; and a retail branch financial consultant, private client advisor and regional sales manager at Wells Fargo. 

Kruchten was also the regional vice president of wholesaling for AXA Equitable, where he advised bank investment representatives on annuity products throughout the Upper Midwest.

The Financial Institutions Division was created by Raymond James in 1987 to provide banks and credit unions with an alternative to traditional third-party investment providers.