A roundup of moves in the industry during October.

Cresset named one of its senior figures, Jessica Malkin, as chief growth officer and executive managing director. Malkin, at the US firm since 2019, has served as chief marketing officer since 2021, and continues in that role. Prior to Cresset, Malkin held leadership positions at startups within the technology, consumer goods, and non-profit industries. 

Citigroup named former senior Goldman Sachs figure Anne McCosker as head of lending for the US bank’s wealth business. Previously, McCosker worked for nine years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as global head of private bank lending and origination. 

RBC Wealth Management brought in The Smalley Girardi Group to its Westport, Connecticut branch. The team, which came from Morgan Stanley with more than $400 million in assets under management, includes Richard Smalley, first vice president, and financial advisor; and Ali Girardi, first VP, financial advisor, and portfolio manager. 

Baird, a US wealth management, investment banking and capital markets firm, welcomed The Berry Peña Group and The Elder Group to its new branch in Franklin, Tennessee. Combined, the two teams brought $580 million in assets to the new office.

-- The Berry Peña Group – came from B Riley. Team members include Tyler Berry, a director, financial advisor, and Rachel Peña, a senior vice president, financial advisor. They are supported by senior client specialist Cherie Seale.

-- The Elder Group – came from Janney Montgomery Scott. Team members include Steve Elder who joined as a director, financial advisor, and Ben Elder as VP, financial advisor. They are supported by senior client specialist Tamara Hackett.

Chilton Trust appointed David Daniel, former CEO and chairman at executive search firm Spencer Stuart, to join its board of directors. At Spencer Stuart, Daniel served for three decades in various leadership positions, first joining as a consultant in the consumer practice in 1994. Following his tenure as CEO, he was chair of its board from 2018 to 2024, having been a board member since 2011. Since completing his final term as chair, he remains an active partner at Spencer Stuart.

MSCI appointed former Goldman Sachs senior manager Luke Flemmer as head of private assets. Flemmer, who is based in New York, reports to Alvise Munari, chief product officer. Previously, Flemmer served as managing director, head of digital strategy for alternative investments at Goldman Sachs. 

ALTSMARK, a private capital portfolio management and services provider for the wealth sector, appointed Josh Krapf and Erik Norrgard as company principals. Former Blackstone senior figure Krapf assumed the role of chief operating officer and Norrgard, who has worked at places including BNY, became chief experience officer. Krapf spent more than 15 years with Blackstone as managing director and head of investor services, data and reporting for its multi-asset investing arm. Norrgard worked in the alternatives investment space for three decades, most recently as principal and director and head of middle office – institutional services, with BNY. 

Realta Wealth, a wealth manager, appointed Abbey Eastham in the newly-formed role of head of advisor relations, reporting to Kevin Keefe, CEO. A former senior investment solutions manager for Cetera Financial Group, Eastham has more than 15 years’ industry experience. 

UBS Wealth Management appointed former Morgan Stanley financial advisor James Kosan to join its Riverside, California office. Kosan mainly works with affluent families, providing family office services and specializing in life transitions. At Morgan Stanley, Kosan worked at the US firm from 2012; before that, he spent six years with Merrill Lynch.

Osaic, the US wealth management platform, appointed Kristy Britt as chief financial officer. The previous CFO, Jon Frojen, stepped down after five years with the company. Brit is based in Osaic’s Scottsdale headquarters and reports to president and CEO Jamie Price. Previously, she worked at Thomson Reuters, where she held several positions in financial leadership and strategic planning across the business, most recently serving as head of finance for the operations and technology organization. 

Laird Norton Wetherby, a trust company and RIA, appointed Ed Lazar, a family office expert and long-time wealth management executive, to join its board of directors. Lazar has more than three decades of tax, management and family office experience. He is executive director and responsible for strategic leadership at Milburn Services, a single-family office in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Baird appointed Robert M Sargent as a director and financial advisor in its wealth management office in Fairfax, Virginia. He was joined at the branch by client assistant, Kaitlyn Powell. Sargent previously worked at Edelman Financial Engines where he managed $245 million in assets. He has 15 years of industry experience and holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation. Baird also added Robert S Bowman, and Matthew L Preddy as directors and financial advisors to a new office opening in Richmond, Virginia. Bowman is assisted by Dustin H Dodge, associate financial advisor, and Preddy is upported by client assistant, Ana Rawls.

Avantax, a financial planning and wealth management firm that is part of the Cetera Holdings group of firms, added new financial advisors to its ecosystem. Bringing about $390 million of combined assets under administration, the following financial professionals and firms have joined the Avantax network in 2024:

-- Ali Kazemi and his Sentinel Financial Group, based near San Francisco, joined Avantax from LPL Financial; 
-- Financial advisor Amy Wright, based near Des Moines, Iowa, joined after being affiliated with LPL Financial. She plans to operate as Wright Financial Solutions; 
-- Joseph Schwan, CPA, and his Long Island, New York-based Premier Wealth Management LLC, joined from LPL Financial; 
-- Independent financial advisor Allan Thompson, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, joined from Ameriprise Financial; 
-- Financial advisor George Escobar and his Covina, California-based Xavier Consulting, joined Avantax from Next Financial Group; 
-- Ken Ulrich and John Ariola, both independent financial advisors, brought their East Amherst, New York-based Progressive Planning Services from Lincoln Financial; 
-- Scot Sageser and William Hubbard, both independent financial advisors, joined along with their Defender Financial Services Group, based near Seattle, from World Equity Group; and 
-- Independent financial advisor W Townsend Morris, based in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, joined Avantax from Kestra Financial.

Fusion Risk Management, which provides operational resilience and business continuity software, appointed Lisa Schreiber as chief customer officer. Schreiber has more than 25 years’ experience in technology, professional services, and risk management. A financial advisor, Tom Wolf, joined Cetera Advisors’ network after leaving Arvest Wealth Management. 

Star Mountain Capital, an investment firm, promoted Scott Couto to president and he joined its executive committee. Couto, a senior advisor, has more than 30 years of experience in the asset management business including executive leadership, risk management, investor communications, investment strategy, distribution, marketing and investment product development. Most recently, Couto was executive vice president and head of North America for Columbia Threadneedle Investments. 

RIA Nepsis appointed Derek Malmquist as vice president of marketing. He was formerly VP of global marketing and content development for Reinsurance Group of America. 

Realta Wealth, an RIA based in Wilmington, Delaware, appointed Paul Tyler as senior vice president, director of business development. Tyler reports to CEO Kevin Keefe.

Seattle-headquartered Russell Investments hired Shelly Heier as global head of institutional client service – a newly-formed role. Most recently, Heier served as president and senior consultant at Verus Investments. She has worked in the industry for 26 years and is based in Seattle.

Vistra, the corporate services company, appointed five senior figures for its North America funds team: Frank Anduiza, Christopher Murphy, Sean Ward, Matt Podolsky and Tony Olivo.

Perigon Wealth Management made three hires: David Scarpello, as chief financial officer, replacing Chuck Pinson-Rose, who continued to support the firm on special projects as the managing director; Brian McGunnigle, director of operations, and previously with the Mather Group; and Debra Dunham, director of transitions and integrations. Dunham most recently led and managed integrations for The Colony Group. Most recently, Scarpello served as the CFO of Pathstone. McGunnigle, who was with the Mather Group, has 25 years of industry experience. 

Brown Brothers Harriman appointed Michael McGrann as managing director in the firm’s Center for Family Business, based in Philadelphia. In addition to his work supporting private business owners, McGrann has taught at several universities. He founded the Family Business Center at St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. 

Northern Trust Wealth Management named Dino De Vita as president of Global Family and Private Investment Offices (GFO), and Marc Cosentino was named as West region president of Northern Trust Wealth Management.

De Vita leads a global team of more than 300 professionals who provide advice and services to Northern Trust’s client base. Before assuming the role of president, De Vita was GFO’s regional managing director of the Central and West regions. 

Cosentino oversees Northern Trust’s wealth management business in the West region, which encompasses Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Washington. Cosentino’s career with Northern Trust spans three decades and numerous leadership roles. Previously, he served as president of Northern Trust's Pacific Northwest and Northern California regions. 

Las Vegas-headquartered RIA Wealth Consulting Group hired Talley LĂ©ger as chief market strategist. LĂ©ger, who has more than 25 years of experience in financial services institutions, previously served as managing director of equity strategy at Raymond James and the chief equity strategist at Invesco. 

UK-listed wealth manager Schroders made a number of promotions in its Americas client group. Nicolas Giedzinski, previously head of wealth, US offshore, became head of US family offices and offshore. He reports to Phil Middleton, CEO Americas and Gonzalo Binello, head of Latin America and US offshore. Alberto Vazquez, formerly the sales director, moved to serve as the head of offshore brokerage sales. Ever Zambrano was promoted to head of discretionary clients, and Mauricio Calmet assumed the role of client director, US offshore.

Petra Funds Group, an independent private funds administrator, hired two people in its business development team: Richard Harris and John Manning. Manning was named senior director of business development. Harris has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently serving as MD at HSBC Securities. Manning brings over 13 years of experience in business development and customer relationship management, including six years working with private equity firms and limited partners. He has held a variety of sales and relationship management positions at Salesforce, Catalant, Riverstone Holdings, and JP Morgan Asset Management.

RBC Wealth Management reorganized its three private client group divisions into four, starting in November. The firm’s West division was split into two. Colin Hawkes, the firm’s Pacific Northwest complex director, became the newest divisional director, leading the revamped West division, which spans 34 branches across three complexes in Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. Hawkes, who joined RBC Wealth Management in 2023, has 24 years of industry experience.

Darryl Traweek, West divisional director, now has leadership responsibility for the newly-formed Mountain South division, comprising 32 branches across four complexes in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. 

Axyon AI, which works with asset managers by using AI tools and strategies, appointed a New York University senior academic as scientific advisor. Petter N Kolm is a professor and director of the Mathematics in Finance MS Program at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. Professor Kolm is also a member of the boards of directors of the International Association of Quantitative Finance (IAQF) and the Society of Quantitative Analysts (SQA). 

Elevation Point appointed Caitlin Douglas as founding partner and chief operating officer. Douglas, who has worked in the sector for almost 20 years, was previously managing director of transition services and co-head of service at Dynasty Financial Partners, where she managed both transition and relationship management teams. 

US financial group State Street appointed former BNY Mellon senior figure Vanessa Fernandes as head of digital asset solutions. Fernandes, based in New Jersey, reports to Donna Milrod, chief product officer at State Street.
JM Finn appointed Jon Cunliffe to lead its investment office, a role that brings together JM Finn’s research and investment strategy capabilities.

Raymond James roundup
Financial advisors Kenneth Buckner and Ryan Tankelewicz joined its independent advisor channel. The advisors, who operate as Buckner Wealth Management in Cary, North Carolina, arrived from Edward Jones where they managed about $150 million in client assets. 

Buckner brings more than 14 years of financial services experience to his role as president of the practice. A North Carolina native, Tankelewicz launched his financial services career in 2022.

Financial advisor Craig Carroll works at the advisor group, CoWealth Advisors in Newman, Georgia. Prior to this, Carroll worked at Edward Jones, managing about $130 million of client assets. He started on his financial services career in 2019.

Advisors based in New York and Idaho joined Raymond James, bringing between them a total of about $1.5 billion in client money to the group’s employee advisor channel. 

A team from Merrill Lynch (over $1 billion AuM) joined in Williamsville, New York. It is led by Christopher Scott, Kevin Klein, Michael Gates, and Salvatore Gandolfo, and operates as Scott Klein Gates Gandolfo Wealth Management of Raymond James. The second group, also formerly with Merrill Lynch and operating as Riverview Wealth Advisors of Raymond James ($479 million AuM), is made up of Larry Stucki, Brandon Peebles, and Jake Waddoups, and is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
 
The firm brought in financial advisors Bryan Burkhart, Gretchen Burkhart and Gabriele Burkhart to its employee advisor channel, based in Sullivan, Indiana. The team is joined by senior client service associate Lisa Chastain and client service associate Megan Simpson, who arrived from Edward Jones. 

Four financial advisors in Las Vegas joined the employee advisor channel. The team includes Kerry Withrow, Ben Hamilton, Ryan D’Souza, and Elliot Bloch, as well as practice business manager Terri Criswell. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Taylor Thompson to its independent advisor channel. At Thompson & Co Wealth Management in Rapid City, South Dakota, Thompson provides wealth management strategies to a variety of clients. He was previously affiliated with LPL Financial, where he managed more than $250 million in client assets.

Financial advisors Taryn Moll and Peter Henziak joined Raymond James at its employee advisor channel in Irvine, California. As Moll Henziak & Associates of Raymond James, the team includes client service associate Rebecca Jonas-Engel and senior registered client service associates Jiangyun “Julie” Dale and Matt Kearns.