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Summary Of Senior North American Wealth Management Moves – October 2025
Editorial Staff
8 December 2025
Fiduciary Trust International appointed Alice Pearl as trust counsel, based in its Los Angeles office. Pearl joined from Kopple, Klinger & Elbaz in Los Angeles, where she was a senior associate attorney working with ultra-high net worth and HNW clients on trust administration, probate, transactional estate planning, and advanced tax and gift planning matters. Certuity, a multi-family office, appointed former UBS senior figure Giuliano Celle as managing director, head of institutional wealth. He is based in New York City. Celle has more than 20 years of global financial services experience spanning wealth management, investment banking, venture capital, and private equity. Celle was managing director of global family and institutional wealth, Latin America/International, at UBS. He previously served in senior roles at JP Morgan. SEI appointed one of its senior figures, Dave Langdale, as chief revenue officer for its US private banking business, effective January 1, 2026. He reports to Sanjay Sharma, global head of SEI’s private banking business and chief executive of SEI International. Commonwealth Financial Network, a national RIA founded nearly 40 years ago, added Vahanian & Associates Financial Planning to its independent advisor network. The team, which joined from Osaic, is led by Jeffrey Vahanian, president, CEO, and financial advisor; Bonnie Boyce, vice president, chief financial officer, and chief compliance officer; and Cameron Corsi, vice president, chief strategy officer, and wealth advisor. It also includes Lisa Cast, director of operations and client experience; Cory Larmour, director of financial planning; and Taryn Sheehan, director of client services. Raymond James Advisor Michael J Salerno, who has more than 30 years’ financial services experience, came to Raymond James’s independent advisor channel. Salerno was formerly at Cetera Investment Services.
Ameriprise Financial said a team of 16 wealth sector professionals at The Atlantic Group joined its branch channel, based in Boca Raton, Florida. The team, previously working at Oppenheimer & Co, managed more than $1.6 billion in client assets. The practice is led by founding partners Andrew Lerner and Logan Shalmi. Ameriprise regional vice president Michael Rearden, complex director Daniel Landrau and branch manager Drew Granauro support the team locally.
UBS Global Wealth Management appointed Bryan Davidson as a financial advisor in its Scottsdale, Arizona, office. He came from BMO Investment Services, also in Scottsdale. Davidson has more than 20 years’ financial services experience, including 17 years directly advising clients on wealth management strategies.
Thryve Wealth Management appointed Randol Curtis as co-founder and chief investment officer. Curtis was CIO of the wealth management business at Strive. Prior to this, he was deputy CIO at One Capital Management.
Envestnet appointed Bhaskar Peddhapati as chief technology officer., reporting to Chris Todd, CEO. He served as senior vice president/head of mortgage technology solutions at Cotality .
EisnerAmper appointed Jack Azagury as chair of the board for Eisner Advisory Group, part of the global business advisory and accounting network. Azagury recently joined TowerBrook Capital Partners as a senior advisor to its business services sector. Before that, he served as group chief executive for consulting at Accenture.
Sequoia Financial Group, an Ohio-headquartered RIA, made a number of senior appointments. Annie McCauley, chief client experience officer, became president of Sequoia Financial, assuming the role from Tom Haught, founder, chairman and chief executive officer. Joe Glick, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, expanded his role to include investment research. Chris Thom, chief strategy and partnerships officer, became chief growth officer. The executive team also includes Gee Smith, head of Sequoia Sentinel Family Office; Justin Stets, head of integrated wealth services; and Kevin Tichnell, chief acquisitions officer.
Citi Private Bank Latin America appointed a former senior UBS figure to be the new market executive for its Mexico business. Carlos Rodriguez Aspirichaga joined Citi Private Bank Mexico; at UBS, he was a financial advisor in Miami, where he led cross-border strategies for complex, multijurisdictional Mexican families. The previous incumbent, Sonia Romero-Garcia, became investment counselor team lead for Citi Private Bank Mexico, reporting to Rodriguez Aspirichaga.
RWA Wealth Partners said senior advisors Jennifer Votano and Evelyn Pepe had joined its family office team. Votano and Pepe serve as managing directors at RWA Family Office, reporting to Nicole LaChapelle, president of family office at the business. Prior to joining RWA, Votano served in advisor roles at Clarfeld | Citizens Private Wealth and New England Private Wealth Advisors. Pepe spent 15 years as a senior private wealth advisor at Clarfeld | Citizens Private Wealth, where she advised executives, business owners, and multigenerational families.
Axtella, a financial network of two broker/dealers and a registered investment advisor, added two advisory teams for the New York area. Judge is based in Ossining, New York. The other joiner was Bill Gillett from Commonwealth Agency in Fishkill, New York.
Jonathan Connolly, a former Wealthspire Trust CEO and senior figure at banks such as UBS was named president and chief operating office for Wealth Advisors Trust Company , a corporate trustee. Connolly has more than 30 years of leadership in fiduciary and wealth management. Earlier in his career, Connolly has served in senior roles at UBS, Comerica Bank & Trust, RBC Trust Company of Delaware, PNC Bank, and TD Bank. Most recently, he served as chief executive at Wealthspire Trust, a Tennessee-chartered public trust company.
WisdomTree, which operates exchange-traded funds, appointed Beena Joseph as global head of human resources. Joseph joined the firm in 2014 via its acquisition of Boost ETP. Joseph reports to chief operating officer and president Jarrett Lilien.
Howden, a global insurance broker, appointed Joe Clark as president and Dale Krupowicz as head of operations for its private risk solutions business in the US.
Mercer Advisors appointed Katelyn Shackleton as executive managing director, New Partner Success. The company’s partner integration team, led by Rick Weyers, vice president, partner integration, report to Shackleton, who was most recently at LPL Financial.
Grant Philanthropic Advisors added Darcy Addison and Leslie Gross as partners. Addison has worked for more than 25 years in the philanthropic sector. Gross was a former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security. She coordinated with the nation's top officials during Hurricane Sandy, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the Boston Marathon bombing. As Chief Counsel in the US Senate, her investigations uncovered billions in global development waste, fraud, and abuse.
Leon Capital Group, a family office, appointed Travis Pittman as managing partner for strategic investments, a new platform. Prior to joining Leon Capital Group, Pittman co-founded and led the transaction advisory services practice at Portage Point Partners, a middle-market business advisory, interim management, and investment banking firm.
European third-party ManCo Carne Group, a provider of fund regulation and governance solutions for the asset management industry, appointed Clair Turketo as managing director, client solutions, based in New York. Turketo has more than 18 years of experience of US and European fund products and structures, compliance, financial crime, and governance.
RBC Wealth Management – US, part of Royal Bank of Canada, brought James Christy, managing director and financial advisor, and portfolio manager, to its Tysons, Virginia branch. Christy, along with senior financial associate Jennifer Ruppert, managed about $400 million in client assets.
New Mountain Capital, an alternative investment firm headquartered in New York, hired William Dunigan as its head of wealth solutions and a NMC managing director. Prior to this, Dunigan worked in various senior roles at BlackRock, in a career there spanning 18 years.
MAI Capital Management, an RIA, appointed Kathleen Alcorn as chief marketing officer. She brought more than two decades of financial services marketing experience to MAI’s leadership team. Alcorn served as CMO at Focus Financial Partners and Nasdaq Corporate Solutions.
New Jersey-based Provident Bank appointed Annamaria Vitelli in the newly-created role of executive vice president, chief growth officer of Beacon Trust, a full-service wealth management firm and wholly owned subsidiary of Provident Bank. Most recently, Vitelli served as executive vice president, head of Hawthorn at PNC Private Bank, where she led the ultra-high net worth business segment.
Carson Group fully acquired the Carson Wealth location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The acquired business is led by managing partner and wealth advisor Neal McGrath.
TritonPoint Partners brought in Greg Powers as a partner and managing director, expanding its presence with offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Diego, California.
Frank Bisignano, a former Fiserv CEO and JP Morgan and Citigroup senior figure, and current Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, became the CEO of the Internal Revenue Service. This is a newly-created role for the US tax collection agency. Bisignano reports to acting IRS commissioner Scott Bessent, who is also Treasury Secretary. Bisignano retained his Social Security position.
Separately, Derek Theurer now performs duties of deputy secretary of the Treasury. Theurer joined the organization in January 2025 as counselor, assisting Bessent with global tax negotiations and enactment of President Donald Trump’s tax cut agenda.
Baird appointed Sean Wintz as a director and financial advisor, based in a new office opening in Alexandria, Virginia. He is supported by client assistant Uesa Robinson. Wintz came from Edelman Financial Engines.
Verdence Capital Advisors, an independent private wealth advisory firm, appointed John R Piccirilli as a director, based in Sarasota, Florida. Among Piccirilli’s roles prior to joining Verdence, he co-founded and served as principal of HNP Capital in New York.
RFG Advisory, a platform for independent advisors, appointed senior industry figure Ed Swenson – a co-founder of Dynasty Financial Partners – as president. For the past two years, Swenson served on RFG’s board of directors.
John Boxer, a former Morgan Lewis partner who spent the last 11 years as general counsel and chief operating officer of Metropolitan Wealth Management, returned as a partner in the private client group. Boxer’s former business, Metropolitan Wealth Management, is a private, multi-family office and subsidiary of Bellevue Capital Partners.
Connecticut-based financial advisors Tom Hine, Jordan Hickey, Kelsey Conklin, and Michael Nicoletti joined the independent advisor channel in Connecticut.
Advisors Trevor Becker and Peter Kotkas are co-founders of Noble Investments, based in White Salmon, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
Financial advisors Paul Williamson and Matt Hamilton joined the independent advisor channel, and are based in Vero Beach, Florida.
Financial advisor Kevin Brown joined the firm's independent advisor segment Charleston, South Carolina. Brown operates as R E Baxter and Associates. He came from Osaic.
A Massachusetts-based group of six advisors, in Ludlow, joined Raymond James. The group is led by managing partner Edward Sokolowski. It arrived from Commonwealth Financial Network.
In one group move, 11 financial advisors with Southwest Wealth Strategies entered the independent advisor channel. The SWS team is led by managing partner John Arnold, and senior partners Ray Dimuzio, Mark Asher, Chris Lanier, Ben Miles, and Nick Obie.
A team of advisors in San Diego, working at what is called The Manning Companies, joined the independent advisor channel. They were at Commonwealth Financial Network, and include Michael A Manning, William B Corder, Roger D Groves, Heather R Nicholas, and Richard Carlquist. Supporting them are TMC’s director of operations Tina Emmet, operations and client service manager Camellia Perez-Hunter, and office manager and marketing coordinator Elizabeth Steffanic, who leads the group’s 10-member operations team.
Advisors Tim Kelly and Coleman Kelly joined the independent advisor channel in Red Wing, Minnesota. They operate as Endurance Wealth Management and arrived from LPL Financial.
A quartet of financial advisors joined the independent advisor channel: Brian Keister; Jody Chiapelli; Sara Hinthorne; and Joshua Keister. They are based in Bethalto, Illinois, as KCH Financial. Previously, they were at Commonwealth Financial Network.
Financial advisor Bryan White came into the firm’s independent advisor channel. White was previously at UBS Financial Services.
Financial advisory Jay Bell joined the independent advisor channel of Raymond James in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Bell arrived from Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. He leads Terrapin Ridge Partners.
Two advisors joined the financial institutions division: Thomas Vitaletti and Tommy Vitaletti. They became part of Towne Wealth Management , located at TowneBank in Williamsburg, Virginia. The father-son team were previously part of Old Point National Bank, which was acquired by TowneBank in September.
A former advisor at Commonwealth Financial Network, Kirk Huismann joined the independent advisor channel. Huismann is based in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.