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

Mesirow
Chicago-headquartered Mesirow, an independent, employee-owned financial services firm, has just announced that Ashley Crotwell (pictured) has joined Mesirow Wealth Management as vice president, wealth advisor. Using more than 25 years of experience, Crotwell will serve wealth clients by providing customized, comprehensive wealth plans and expert investment selection, the firm said in a statement.

Before joining Mesirow in 2025, Crotwell served as a senior wealth advisor at Sequoia Financial Advisors where she guided clients through investment planning, tax planning, cash flow planning, debt management and budgeting.

“Expanding our presence in Stuart aligns with our focus on serving a growing base of wealth management clients and advancing the firm’s footprint across Florida and the regional Southeast,” said Brian Price, CEO of Mesirow Wealth Management. “We look forward to ongoing organic growth and continued momentum through potential future acquisitions in the wealth management space.”

In September 2024, Mesirow acquired Price Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor (RIA) firm based in Stuart, Florida. Crotwell will join Craig Price and Nancy Zehr, senior client relationship specialists, as they serve clients in Southeast Florida. The expansion of wealth management services in Stuart reflects the firm’s plans to grow its headcount in the region, with particular focus on wealth management and capital markets. 

Mesirow Wealth Management has more than $12.4 billion in assets under management/assets under advisement; overall Mesirow has $306.2 billion in assets under supervision.

Wooster Square Advisors
Wooster Square Advisors, a New Haven-based investment management firm, has just appointed Francis McGrail to lead the firm’s newly-founded Wooster Square Partners, focused on recruiting growth-minded advisors.

McGrail is joining as managing partner and registered professional to help recruit advisors into Wooster Square Partners, the firm said in a statement.

McGrail has more than 30 years of financial services industry experience. He served the investment community as an investment banker, producing sales manager and branch manager, complex, district and regional director. While in production and field management, McGrail specialized in helping advisors understand the needs of high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients and how to work with them.

His work ranges from consulting teams to individual training and coaching on practice expansion and advisor succession planning. He has worked with sole practitioners and large teams – all of whom work with diverse client segments. McGrail served as managing director at UBS for more than 27 years, and as a regional executive at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management for more than seven years, the firm added.

Avantax
Avantax, a group of tax-focused financial professionals within US-based Cetera Holdings, has appointed Toby Brazzel. 

Brazzel moved to Avantax from Allstate Financial Services, where he had about $80 million in client assets under administration as of August 2024. He has been in the financial sector for more than 28 years.

Avantax has two distinct, but related, models: the independent financial professional model, and its employee-based model.