LPL Financial, Baird, an FPA major award, Riskalyze integration and more

September 10, 2021 3:03 PM

LPL Financial attracted several advisors last week, in addition to a new executive vice president. The FPA gave its P. Kemp Fain Jr. Award to the co-creator of the Academy of Financial Services. And more advisors were on the move. Scroll through for a look at what happened this week in the world of financial advice.

Financial advisors Cory Summers, Kurt Emerick, Jim Mailhes, Alan Canine, Justin Martinez and Ava “Diane” Smith of Corpus Christi Financial Group left Cetera Financial Group’s Cetera Advisor Networks to affiliate with LPL Financial. Cetera acquired the Corpus Christi, Texas-based practice’s prior broker-dealer of eight years, Voya Financial Advisors, in June. The team, which includes two licensed assistants and five office support staff members, managed $400 million in client assets with their previous broker-dealer. “We wanted a place we can call ‘home’ for the long-term; somewhere we can focus on clients and not worry about the next change,” Summers said in a statement.

Summit Growth Partners, a network of more than a dozen independent advisory firms, has added a new practice in Morristown, New Jersey, called WealthPlan Advantage. The practice, which has about $170 million in client assets, received a non-controlling, minority investment from Summit, which is backed by financial services operating firm Merchant Investment Management. “Our partnership with Summit lets us tap into a trove of in-house expertise, technology and support that is truly rare to find in one place from a growth partner,” WealthPlan founder Greg Nardolillo said in a statement.

Third Coast Bank SSB hired four advisors and launched a wealth management program under a new affiliation with Ameriprise’s Financial Institutions Group. The Texas-based institution has offices around the Houston and Beaumont areas, and the incoming advisors managed a combined $800 million in client assets with their prior firms. They are: Jeanette Allan, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors, John Boles, BBVA Securities, Michael Loerch, BBVA, and John Bunch, J.P. Morgan Chase. The bank selected Ameriprise for its program, Third Coast Advisors, after a national search. “We were drawn to Ameriprise Financial because of its solid track record of helping people feel more financially confident through its approach to delivering personalized advice,” Third Coast CEO Bart Caraway said in a statement. “A growing need of our clients is financial planning, and we look forward to leveraging the resources of Ameriprise Financial to serve our clients holistically.

Financial advisor John Vande Bossche of Anaheim, California-based Vande Bossche Financial Planning and Wealth Management, left Northwestern Mutual to affiliate with LPL Financial. The practice managed $380 million in client assets with its prior firm. It includes his wife, Director of Operations Mary Vande Bossche; their daughter, financial advisor Kristen Marie Nielsen; and their son, Analyst and Marketing Director Patrick Vande Bossche, along with Director of Investments Timothy Mitchell and assistant Jennifer Moses. “Watching Patrick and Kristen develop their interests in my line of work and grow into their roles today is a dream come true,” John Vande Bossche said in a statement. “We have a clear succession plan for our firm, so clients can rest assured that we will take care of their investments and help manage their financial future for generations to come.”

Baird added a wirehouse breakaway team in Roseville, California, where financial advisor Margaret Wilkin and Client Specialist Rebecca Talley joined a branch of the regional firm after leaving Wells Fargo Advisors. The practice managed about $190 million in client assets with its previous firm. Baird’s Private Wealth Management unit has more than 1,300 advisors with client assets of $239 billion.

LPL Financial hired Matthew Morningstar, the former head of litigation and regulatory enforcement for Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management division, to be its executive vice president of compliance, legal and risk. Morningstar is the co-chair of the Committee to Enhance Diversity in the Profession for the New York City Bar, as well as a past winner of the 2013 Out and Proud Corporate Counsel Award from the National LGBT Bar Association and the Advisory Council Leadership Award from the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. He reports to LPL Chief Legal Officer Michelle Oroschakoff. “Matt is a proven litigator and leader with deep knowledge of our industry’s legal and regulatory environment. With his legal expertise and strategic acumen, he will further enable us to extend a customer care approach to our legal functions and drive positive outcomes for our business partners,” Oroschakoff said in a statement.

"Financial advising is a discrete matter," said Tom Warschauer, a professor emeritus of finance at San Diego State University.

Thomas Warschauer, a professor emeritus of the Fowler College of Business Finance Department at San Diego State University, who led the school’s respected planning program for 35 years, received FPA’s highest individual honor, the P. Kemp Fain Jr. Award. Along with Robert Bohn of Brigham Young University and Tom Potts of Baylor University, Warschauer created the Academy of Financial Services to promote research in planning and the development of financial services curricula at the university level. “Few people have left their mark on the FPA and the profession as much as Tom has,” 2021 FPA President Skip Schweiss said in a statement. “As one of the individuals responsible for the creation of the Journal of Financial Planning, every FPA member and, quite frankly, the profession, has been touched by Tom’s vast contributions to the building of the base of professional knowledge in financial planning. As an academic, Tom’s influence has touched the lives of thousands of students over the years, but his influence has extended well outside the classroom. In a way, anyone working as a financial planner has been one of Tom’s students, and for that, we are all grateful.”

Financial services holding company Wealth Partners Capital Group, which already has invested in EP Wealth Advisors, MAI Capital Management, Forbes Family Trust and Merit Financial Group, is adding Glastonbury, Connecticut-based Apella Capital to its portfolio. The firm, led by founders Pat Sweeny and Dave Connelly and CEO Joshua Pace, has $2.4 billion in client assets. Under the deal, Apella will receive a minority investment from WPCG. “Our firm was built by advisors for advisors, and we are dedicated to providing exceptional advice and creating lifelong client relationships,” Sweeny and Connelly said in a statement. “We have achieved remarkable growth over the past five years, and we seek to partner with more best-in-class advisors while continuing to offer our clients the finest of factor-based investing. We are excited about our partnership with WPCG given their proven track record of assisting partner firms in achieving their growth goals through M&A.”

Advisors who custody client assets with Interactive Brokers, Apex and RBC Clearing & Custody can now use Riskalyze Trading, the risk analytic fintech’s account monitoring and trading product. The integration with Apex supports trade automation and eliminates manual account allocations. Deeper integrations with RBC and Interactive Brokers will let advisors use Connected Trading, an enhanced version that bypasses custodian trade files by routing trades electronically to the clearing platform and automating the allocation of traded securities in client accounts.

Next Level Private announced it became a fully independent registered investment advisor. The firm, which was formerly associated with UBS as Mitchell WealthCare, does not require a minimum from clients. The eight-person team has $850 million in assets under management. It offers goals-based planning, fiduciary advice and financial advocacy. “Now as an independent RIA and fiduciary, we are free from previous proprietary constraints and have a lot more available to us in terms of research, investment solutions and technology that can put our clients in a better financial position," said Barry Mitchell, founder and managing director of Next Level Private, which is based in Harrison, New York.