March 21, 2023
Entering February we began to see wire house recruiting activity pick up in full force again. On a specific firm level, many of the same trends that existed during 2022 continued this month mainly: continued movement out of the wire house channel into the independent channel with Cetera, LPL and Raymond James as the main beneficiaries.
Rockefeller and Cetera continue to occupy the top two spots in terms of net new AUM with Rockefeller at $3.3 B AUM new recruit assets and Cetera at $2.2 in new recruit assets.
Daniel Laiter with $250 M AUM in Miami, FL has joined Alex Brown ( Raymond James).Laiter will continue to focus on clients in Mexico as his specialty. He was previously with Merrill.
Christy Campbell has joined the Thrive Advisory Group (Alex. Brown/Raymond James) in St. Petersburg, FL with $112 M AUM. She will be focusing on corporate retirement plans and planning with those participants. She was previously with Merrill.
Jens Fonnesbeck and Christopher Doll in Boulder, CO with $107M AUM are joining First National Bank of Omaha (Raymond James). Prev with US Bancorp
Momentum Wealth Partners (FAs: Cynthiea Locala, Robert Krenz, Mark Ruby and Dominic Ruby) in Akron, OH with $680 M AUM have joined Raymond James (FS) . Prev with UBS
Clarity Private Wealth Solutions (FAs John N. Ferguson and Charles B. Bailey, III) in Mobile, AL with $250 M AUM have joined Steward Partners (part of Raymond James). The Team was previously with Wells.
Jonathan Blakelock (team name: Blakelock Financial Group) has joined LPL with $180 M AUM in Houston, TX. He and his 6 person staff were previously with Ameriprise
Chris Corcoran based in Houston, TX with $130 M AUM has joined Linsco (LPL) which is the advisor employee model of LPL. He has started the Team: Memorial Financial Advisors of LPL Financial and had departed from Merrill Lynch.
Matt Jackson and Adam Callender (team name: The Jackson Callender Group) with $145 M AUM has joined the Linsco LPL channel also in the same location as Corcoran, in Houston, TX. The Team had departed Truist.
Mario Torres, Antavius Greathouse and Bill Niemeier based in Albuquerque, NM with $225 M AUM have joined Legacy Financial Group (part of LPL) . The Team was previously with Voya
Russell Smith in Downers Grove, IL with $150 M AUM has joined Ameriprise. Smith was previously with Edward Jones.
Maria Solanet has joined Insigneo in Miami, FL as an Advisor. She focuses on international clients and was previously with Morgan Stanley. Insigneo has grown over $18B AUM.
Two adds at Cadaret Grant: Marshall Wealth Management Group (FA: Brad Marshall) in Los Gatos, CA with $100 M AUM has joined the independent. Cypress Private Wealth (FA: Dominick Ruiz) in San Jose, CA with $110 M AUM has also joined Cadaret Grant. Both Teams were previously with LPL.
The Karstaedt Group (new team contact: FAs: Marc Karstaedt, Daniel Zomback and Raymond Lin) managing $400 M AUM in New York, NY has joined JP Morgan Advisors. The Team was previously with Merrill.
Andrew Parvey and Maureen Wilson (Team name: Parvey Wilson Group) with $200 M AUM in Boston, MA have joined JP Morgan Adviosrs. The duo were previously with Merrill Lynch.
TC Wealth Partners (including Trust Company of Illinois) based in Chicago, IL managing $1.65 B AUM has been purchased by Hightower. A few weeks post this acquisition, TC Wealth merged with EFG Advisors (also in Chicago, IL) with $800 M AUM. Hightower AUM stood at $144 B AUM pre these acquisitions.
United Advisor Group (new RIA firm) officially launched Monday (2/6/2023) by bringing together founding partners from a mix of independent broker-dealers and independent RIAs with the sole purpose of being an RIA aggregator. They have a goal to get to $750 M over the next year and will custody with Goldman.
Florida Pension Group (FAs Troy Tummond, Steve Carter, John Hudson) who specializes in corporate retirement plans with $500 M AUM based in St. Johns, FL has been acquired by OneDigital. This is the seventh acquisition by OneDigital in the past year with assets over $109 B AUM.
Washington Wealth Advisors (FAs Maura Schauss and Todd Youngdahl) in Falls Church, VA with $650M AUM has been purchased by WEG (Wealth Enhancement). Post acquisition, WEG will have approx $62 B AUM
Legacy Financial Planning based in Oswego, NY and Naples, FL with $371 M AUM has been purchased by WEG. All three FAs and four staff will be joining WEG.
True Harvest Wealth Management (new RIA, FAs Reg Aldrich, Levi Wade, Derek Williams and Matt Powell,) in Oklahoma City, OK with $ 140 M AUM has formed, affiliating with Raymond James
TruClarity Management Solutions, an RIA provider with has been acquired by Dynasty Financial. This will allow Dynasty take on servicing an additional 49 RIAs and 320 FAs. The assets of TruClarity Wealth had previously been mentioned to merge with One Seven.
Zeke Capital Advisors with $5 B AUM in Berwyn, PA has been acquired by Sequoia Financial. This is the largest RIA acquisition of 2023 thus far and will double the AUM of Sequoia’s wealth business. Sequoia is based in Akron, OH and Zeke will on the Sequoia name.
The Jones Connolly Pollock Group (fas: Garrett Jones, Sean Connolly, Gregory Pollock) based in Winter Park, FL with $2.5 B AUM has joined Rockefeller Capital Management. The Team is consistently list on the Forbes Best in State list and is Rockefeller’s first in the Orlando market. The team was previously with Merrill Lynch.
Paul Leach with $400 M AUM in Los Angeles, CA has joined Rockefeller Capital Mgmt. He departed the Merrill Lynch office in El Segundo, CA.
Also joining Rockefeller, Trent Cowles with $450 M AUM based in Indianapolis, IN has joined. Trent departed Merrill.
Minority stakes continue as an option over full acquisitions. Prosperity Advisors with $1.7 B AUM in Overland Park, KS has sold a minority stake to BD Cetera. Both Cetera and LPL have been active in this are as many parent BDs have begun taking minority stakes in firms over the past year.
Bickling Financial Services (lead FAs: Spencer and Andrew Bett) based in Lexington, MA with $625 M AUM has been acquired by Hightower (PE backed). This the second acquisition for Hightower this year. All five FAs will be joining Hightower as part of the acquisition.
On a related note, LPL has launched a new services called “ Partial Book Sales” which will allow FAs to shift clients direct to LPL and out of their RIA.
For more details on Financial Advisor and RIA moves, we'd love to offer you a free trial of Dakota Marketplace!
Gui Costin is the Founder and CEO of Dakota.
