A roundup of moves in the North American wealth management sector during September.

Raymond James brought over Evan J Mayer to the firm's broker/dealer in Boca Raton, Florida. Mayer previously worked at SunTrust Investment Services, where he managed approximately $184 million in client assets. Operating as The Mayer Group of Raymond James, he was joined by Anny D Paulino, senior vice president and office manager for The Mayer Group.

Raymond James acquired advisors Greg Vandergrift and Zach Vandergrift who are based at the firm’s advisor broker/dealer offices in Orlando and Tampa, Florida. Joining the two advisors at Raymond James were practice business coordinator Kristin Lane and registered client service associate Joshua Godsil. Together, the team operates as Vandergrift Financial Group of Raymond James.

LPL Financial said advisor Brian Gernant of Gernant Asset Management joined its broker-dealer and corporate registered investment advisor platforms. Gernant, who reported having managed approximately $125 million of client brokerage, advisory and retirement plan assets, has brought more than 36 years of financial services experience to LPL. Previously, he was at Wells Fargo Financial Network.

LPL Financial brought over Carter Johns, Michael Chu and John Gillis to its registered investment advisor and broker-dealer platforms. The advisors - JCG, LLC in Chesapeake, Virginia - reported having served more than $150 million of client brokerage, advisory and retirement plan assets. They join LPL from Ameriprise Financial. Gillis, Chu and Johns formed JCG in 2012.

LPL Financial welcomed Mark Sudol, Gary Sudol and Jeffery Lavin of The Sudol Group to its broker-dealer and corporate registered investment advisor platforms. The firm’s advisors reported having served about $300 million of client brokerage, advisory and retirement plan assets. They joined from Ameriprise Financial Services. Mark Sudol founded the Las Vegas-based firm in 2003, adding a second location in Gardenia, California, in 2010 when Lavin joined the firm. Along with Gary Sudol, Mark’s brother, the advisors work together to serve clients throughout greater Las Vegas and Southern California. Courtney Sudol and Sarah Ahlheim provide office support.

Baird, the US wealth and financial services group, brought over The Dahl Pennise Group to join its Chicago office. Eric Dahl and Tim Pennise serve as vice president, financial advisor. They were joined by client specialist Kate Johnson. 

Dahl has brought nearly 20 years of experience to Baird, most recently serving as a vice president and financial advisor at UBS. Prior to that, Dahl spent 10 years at Bernstein Global Wealth Management where he was a vice president and financial advisor in the firm's Chicago office. Pennise joined Baird with over 15 years of experience in the finance industry, most recently serving as a vice president and financial advisor at UBS. 

Separately, Baird added David Burchfield, SVP, financial advisor, to its Denver wealth management office. Burchfield has more than 20 years of experience, and joined from Charles Schwab where he was a senior investment consultant.

Baird also appointed Brad Pease, managing director, financial advisor of The Pease Group to join its Portland, Oregon wealth management market. Pease's two colleagues Paula Stiefel and Jenifer Thomas, who are both senior client specialists, also joined. 

Bringing almost 40 years of experience, Pease's eponymous firm was previously part of Benjamin Edwards, where Pease was the managing director. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Oregon-Eugene. Prior to his time at Benjamin Edwards, he held senior positions with Wells Fargo, Piper Jaffray, Dain Bosworth and more.

Wells Fargo appointed Charles Scharf, former chief executive and president of Bank of New York Mellon, as its new CEO and president. Scharf took over from C Allen Parker, who was interim CEO and president from March after Timothy Sloan stood down in the wake of scandals that had hit the bank and its subsequent clean-up efforts. Before joining Visa, Scharf was managing director of One Equity Partners, the private investment arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co. He also served as chief executive officer of Retail Financial Services at JP Morgan Chase and chief executive officer of the retail division of Bank One Corp. Scharf was CFO of Bank One Corp, CFO of the Global Corporate and Investment Bank division at Citigroup, and CFO of Salomon Smith Barney.

Wells Fargo Asset Management appointed Yeng Felipe Butler as head of its liquidity client group. Butler, based in Boston, Massachusetts, reports to Nico Marais, chief executive of WFAM. Butler manages WFAM’s short-duration and cash management business, which has about $156 billion in assets under management and includes capabilities such as money market mutual funds and customized liquidity accounts. Butler joins WFAM from State Street Global Advisors, where she most recently served as global head of cash business, overseeing a global team of 30 short-term fixed income investment sales professionals. 

Texas-based Royal Harbor Partners, a wealth management firm in the Houston market, was launched in September. The team is led by partners Glenn Royal, Michele Jones, and Natalie Picha. Royal, CFP®, portfolio manager, is a former institutional trader and private client wealth advisor who has constructed investment portfolios for clients and worked with equity and fixed-income securities since 1984. He previously served as the Mayor of Seabrook, Texas. Michele Jones, wealth management advisor, served in leadership roles in the financial service industry, including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Natalie Picha, wealth management advisor, previously worked at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley, and is a member of the Seabrook City Council.

EisnerAmper, the professional services firm which has branched into areas including family offices and private client work, appointed Brian Friedman as a director of business development. Friedman has more than 20 years of experience in tax, accounting, audit, IT controls, SOX 404, business process automation, artificial intelligence, bots, software implementation, finance, and relationship management. He also has experience in software solutions and services for the accounting market. Prior to joining the firm, Friedman spent 15 years as a director of professional software sales at a global, publicly-traded firm. 

Americana Partners, a registered investment advisor with $6 billion of client money, appointed Michael Mithoff as head of private equity. In this role, Mithoff advises families in connection with portfolio allocation and management, specifically with respect to alternative investment strategies. He be based in Houston and reports to Jason Fertitta, president of Americana partners. Prior to this, Mithoff had served as a managing director in a similar role at HighTower Texas (formerly Salient Private Client), since November 2013. Mithoff also founded and managed a private equity advisory firm Teton Strategic Investments, and he serves as president of Wasatch Strategic Investments, which he founded in 2018. 

CIBC appointed Julie Barron and Cass Culp to join its US private wealth management team in Boston and Chicago, respectively. Barron joined as a managing director and market manager and Culp joined as vice president and business development officer. Barron brings 30 years of banking and wealth management experience. Prior to joining CIBC Private Wealth, Barron was a regional managing director and team leader at Wilmington Trust, where she was responsible for meeting the financial needs of high net worth individuals, families and closely held business owners.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Eunice Kim as regional president in Denver, Colorado. She reports to Jim Barnyak, regional president, Seattle. Kim oversees the wealth management business in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region, including investments, advisory, financial planning and banking. Kim has worked as a senior wealth strategist at Northern Trust. Prior to Northern Trust, she was a senior vice president at UBS and spent 18 years at JP Morgan Private Bank in New York and Denver, where she was a senior relationship manager and fixed income portfolio manager.

ACA Compliance Group, which provides governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions, appointed Carlo di Florio as its global chief services officer. Prior to this, di Florio was chief risk and strategy officer at US regulatory body FINRA, where he was also co-chair of the FINRA360 Project Management Office. He was there for six years. Before this, he served as director of the Security and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. Earlier, di Florio was a partner in PwC’s Financial Services Risk & Regulatory Practice.

JTC, the provider of fund, corporate and private wealth services to institutional and private clients, named Marina Cristiani as head of its New York Office. Cristiani is part of the JTC private office team and sits within the firm’s private wealth services division. She has almost two decades' experience of working with ultra-high net worth individuals and international wealthy families, with a particular focus on Latin America and expertise in establishing bespoke estate planning solutions. She is a trust and estates practitioner and an active member of STEP.

Boston Private appointed John Longley as president of its Western region. Longley provides leadership and oversight for all West Coast activities and is based in the firm’s San Francisco office. With more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, previously Longley was a managing director, head of private wealth at BlackRock iShares. He spent 17 years at Citigroup, and ended up as chief executive Citi Private Bank North America. Most recently, he was the CEO and co-founder of Dobot, a fintech company that developed personal finance applications and was acquired in 2018.

Cresset, the US wealth management house, appointed three senior figures for its Chicago and Minneapolis offices. Tyrone Stephens joined as a partner and wealth advisor in the Chicago office. Prior to this, Stephens was an investment specialist at JP Morgan’s Private Bank in New York and Chicago. Prior to that, Stephens provided policy analysis for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Also at Chicago is Michael Pinckney - a partner and wealth advisor. Before this, he served as a wealth manager with the Bank of New York Mellon.

In Minneapolis, Marcia Urban was made a partner and MD, wealth strategist, for the Midwest region. Most recently,she served as director of legacy and wealth planning at Abbot Downing. Urban is a member of the Twin Cities Estate Planning Council and serves on the Board of Trustees for Hamline University in St Paul.

Bank of New York Mellon appointed Thomas P Gibbons, as interim chief executive. Gibbons, a 30-year veteran of the firm, succeeded Charles W Scharf who, as reported elsewhere, has left the firm to become the new CEO of Wells Fargo. Joseph Echevarria, a member of BNY Mellon's board of directors since February 2015 and lead independent director, was appointed as non-executive chairman of the board. Gibbons served for nine years as BNY Mellon's chief financial officer and most recently as vice chairman and CEO of clearing, markets and client management.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Scott M Lillis as regional president in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lillis reports to Andy Paterson, regional president, Central Region.

Kestra Private Wealth Services, a registered investment advisor subsidiary of Kestra Financial, added advisors from Mundi Financial, Middletown, New York. Led by CEO and founder Bill Krivicich, the team offer wealth management and financial planning to retirees on a discretionary, customized basis. Krivicich is a CFA® charterholder and has over 20 years of experience in the industry. In his previous role as chief investment officer, he oversaw nearly $1 billion in assets.

RBC Wealth Management (US) appointed Kristen Kimmell to head its advisor recruiting and field marketing business to boost addressing this imbalance. Under Kimmell's watch, the firm said it has already increased the number of female advisors by 23 per cent over the last two years, and doubled the number of women in branch director roles. Kimmell held senior positions in technology, credit strategy and business development at RBC for close to 25 years. She also serves as the co-executive sponsor of RBC Wealth Management’s Women’s Association of Financial Advisors (WAFA), where her focus has been on elevating the role of women in the broader wealth industry.