Financial Advisor Moves and RIA Acquisitions Reported in the Second Half of September 2022

The back half of September continued to see a high amount of movement within the wirehouse community as large upfront bonuses being offered by UBS were set to end at the end of the month and many advisors/teams looking to take advantage of their relative strong trailing production.

Overall, independents and RIAs continue to be major net gainers with YTD additions of assets in the top three firms bringing in combined $57 billion, all being independents/RIA. The net-asset FA losses among the top three totaled $39 billion from Merrill, Wells, and Morgan Stanley. 

UBS

In Washington DC, the team consisting of William R. Slater, James (“J.J.”) King, Scott D. Fitzenreiter and Ryan Shuler with $1.7 B AUM joined UBS and had catered to high net worth clients focusing on $5 million account minimums. The team was previously with Merrill Lynch. 

The Tashjian Farkas team with $430 M AUM joined UBS in Hartford, CT and left the Merrill office in Farmington, CT.  

Todd Emily and Ashley Carney who lead The Milledge Group have joined UBS in Athens, GA ( new office) with $420 M AUM.  They are bringing staff members Barbara Arnold and Sarah Beam with them and were previously with Morgan Stanley. 

Michael Nazarian is joining UBS in Sherman Oaks, CA bringing $123 M in assets with him from Well Fargo.

Tonia M. Dillon has joined UBS in the NYC suburb of Jericho, NY managing $182 M in AUM.  While coming from Wells, she previously had been at UBS prior to then. 

​​ Jeffrey R. Brecht has left the Brecht Edman Group, joining UBS in Sioux Falls, SD with $400 M AUM. Brecht was ranked on the Forbes/Shook best in State list in 2022. The rest of the old group remains at Merrill Lynch.

Nancy C. Bernstein and Jonathan D. Rothman have joined UBS in Warren, NJ with $332 M AUM.  They are departing Morgan Stanley. 

Tiffani N. Lee-Kumabe in Seattle, WA has joined UBS with $100 M AUM, leaving Morgan Stanley where she had been with a team and is joined by Jack Niehaus.

Sequoia Partners, led by Howard L. Woo and Luke C. Schell have move to UBS in Irvine, CA with $350 M AUM.  The team has departed Merrill. 

Garth Allan has joined UBS in Newport Beach, CA managing $220 M.  He was previously with Wells Fargo.

Ben Flaim based in Boston, MA has joined UBS bringing $1B AUM with him from Goldman private wealth after being with GS for 14 years. 

In New York City, David S. Powers joined UBS with $215 M AUM based in the 299 park Ave branch. Powers departed Wells Fargo. 

Also in NYC, the MPD Park Avenue Group which includes Peter E. Murray, David W. Peeler, Andrew V. DiPaola have joined UBS with $530 M AUM.  They were previously with Merrill. 

Another NYC metro team, AG & Associates in Paramus, NJ includes FAs Gregory J. Amerkanian and Michael C. Gogliormella has joined UBS brining $595M AUM with them, departing Merrill. The has been on the best in State list for 2022.

small free trial banner

Raymond James

While not a recruiting move, Concurrent Advisors split from Raymond James to operate as a hybrid RIA made news as they move to a multi-custodial model.  Concurrent manages approximately $12.7B and has backing from p/e firm Merchant. 

Stone Manor Wealth Advisors in Novi, MI has joined Raymond James with $1.1 B AUM.  The team includes FAs Nicholas Conner, Kevin Latta, Michael Conti and Jamie Howells.  They departed the the GNJ Wealth Management Group at Merrill Lynch. 

Park Hill Financial Services led by Dan Chick in Ft. Worth, TX who manages $230 M AUM has joined the Raymond James independent channel. The team had previously been with Edward Jones. 

The Wise Investor team has joined Raymond James managing $2.9 B AUM in Reston, VA.  The team is comprised of Simon Hamilton, Gregory Smith, David Mount, Ann Summerson, Chase Hinderstein, Matthew Anderson, Chris Aime and Nicholas Sorden.  The team will rename as The Wise Investor of Raymond James and had previously been with Baird. 

LPL

Resonate Wealth Partners led by Alex Guiliano based in Ridgewood, NJ has joined LPLs Strategic Wealth Services division and manages $1B AUM.  He had left Merrill Lynch. 

Bodnar Financial Advisors based in Florham Park, NJ with $300 M AUM has joined LPL.  The team includes John Bodnar and Justin Esposito and were previously with Cambridge Investment Research. 

Benjamin Link and Steve Sexton have formed Vero Wealth Management at LPL’s Linsco channel who manage $380 M AUM in Greensboro, NC. Previously they were with Truist Financial. 

Hal Reinstein, Michael T. Nelson, Daniel Sirota, Pascale Hainline and Kimberly Ferry have joined First Republic in Scarsdale,NY managing $2B AUM.  The team was on the best in State list in 2022 and was previously in the White Plains, NY Merrill Lynch office. 

RIA acquisitions

KB Financial Partners based in Princeton, NJ was purchased by One Digital.  KB’s team includes 28 employees and manages $1B in AUM.   This is the 6th acquisition for OneDigital this year who is p/e backed. 

EP Wealth’s acquisitions continue as they acquired Minot Wealth Management based in Westwood, MA with $1.1 B AUM and six employees.  This is EP’s first acquisition on the east coast and fourth this year.  EP is p/e backed by Berkshire Partners. 

Triad Financial Strategies based in Seattle, WA and manages $680 M AUM was purchased by Merit Financial Advisors.  Triad employs 16 members split between their Tacoma and Issaquah offices. WEG backed Merit has now made 11 purchases this year. 

Goldstein Munger who specializes in high net worth/family office relationships has been purchase by Mercer Global Advisors.  Goldstein has $1 B AUM, with approximately 75% of the assets being discretionary. 

Covington Capital Management with locations in LA and Irvine, CA has merged with Cerity Partners. Covington manages $4.2 B AUM with 25 employees and will brand under the Cerity name moving forward.  Cerity has p/e backing.   

For more insights on Financial Advisors and RIAs, request a free trial of Dakota Marketplace

New call-to-action

Written By: Gui Costin, Founder, CEO

Gui Costin is the Founder and CEO of Dakota.