LPL, Raymond James, RBC, plus a financial advice celebrity podcast and California’s retirement mandate

January 14, 2022 7:49 PM

The Foundation for Financial Planning opened its 2023 grant request application and named its 2022 award recipients. Bernstein Private Wealth Management is launching a podcast that will include conversations between the company’s executives and celebrities about financial topics and investment strategies. Any California employer that has more than 100 employees and doesn’t offer a private workplace retirement plan must now take part in the state’s program. There were many mergers and acquisitions, as well as advisors and executives on the move. Scroll through to find what you might have missed this week in financial planning news.

The Leonard Green & Partners-backed Mariner Wealth Advisors made its 14th deal of 2021 on Dec. 30, acquiring a former Commonwealth Financial Network-affiliated practice called Viewpoint Financial Network. The practice, led by 39-year veteran financial advisor Benjamin Wong, has offices in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, where its 15 advisors and other employees managed $950 million in client assets with their prior firm. “We’ve always been focused on putting the clients’ needs at the forefront of our decisions,” Wong said in a statement. “Mariner Wealth Advisors also follows a client-first mission. Not only do they put their clients first, but they also share our values of integrity and offering world-class service, and joining their team is the right step in continuing to serve our clients for generations to come.” Mariner has 67 advisory offices nationwide.

Bernstein Private Wealth Management, an advisory unit of AllianceBernstein, is launching a new series of roundtable discussions between its executives and celebrities about financial advice and investment strategies. The first episode of “Let’s Talk” will go live on Jan. 19 on Instagram and Facebook with a conversation between actor, producer and entrepreneur Rosario Dawson and Anne Bucciarelli, the company’s national director of wealth strategies. They’ll be discussing charitable donations. “I’m honored to be the first guest on the ‘Let’s Talk’ series with Bernstein,” Dawson said in a statement. “Intentional giving is a major part of my life, and a big passion of mine is giving back to the community. By the end of the episode, I want people to feel empowered knowing that being generous with your money doesn’t decrease your financial value, it increases your value.”

Arthur Osman, the former executive vice president of institution services at LPL Financial, has joined Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting, where he’s now a principal focusing on wealth management programs at banks and credit unions. Osman had been with LPL since 2012 after 14 years with a bank and credit union serving firm it acquired called Uvest Financial Services. “Having worked with Arthur as a client, we have seen first-hand his ability to lead teams, produce results and help clients succeed,” Kehrer Bielan Partner Ken Kehrer said in a statement. “He will be an invaluable resource to organizations looking for strategic, creative ideas, and solutions to take their retail investments and wealth management vision to the next level.”

Raymond James recruited a pair of financial advisors in Omaha, Nebraska, and a new senior vice president of private wealth. Advisors Steve and Eric Gustafson, who are cousins, as well as client service associate Rhonda Stibbs, joined Raymond James & Associates from Wells Fargo Advisors. The team managed $225 million in client assets with its prior firm. “For the past 28 years, I have been proud to provide industry-leading, one-on-one advice to families and individuals, as well as building trust through long-term relationships,” Steve Gustafson said in a statement. “The move to RJA allows us to further elevate our customer-first commitment.” In the executive appointment, Raymond James appointed Kevin Ruth, the ex-head of wealth planning and personal trust at Fidelity Investments following earlier tenures with Merrill Lynch and UBS in his 25-year career, to the position leading the firm’s advanced strategies for high net worth and ultrahigh net worth clients. In the new role, he reports to Kim Jensen, the chief operating officer of Raymond James’ Private Client Group. “With its long history of putting clients first, Raymond James has established an exceptional, relationship-driven culture that stands out in the industry,” Ruth said in a statement. “I’m eager to be a part of that tradition by ensuring we have the right offerings and resources in place to support advisors in delivering high-value, holistic outcomes for clients.”

A major acquisition by the majority owner of Laird Norton Wealth Management combined the firm with another big RIA called Wetherby Asset Management, creating an advisory firm and trust company with $15 billion in assets. Laird Norton CEO Kristen Bauer is leading the merged firm, with Debra Wetherby remaining in the role of managing partner at her firm and gaining a seat on the company’s expanded board of directors. Under the deal, each of the firms will keep the same brand name while operating from Laird Norton’s Seattle headquarters and Wetherby’s existing office footprints in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. The parties didn’t disclose the terms of the deal or the close date. “Most wealth management firms claim to serve the needs of families of multi-generational wealth, but it’s rare to find a firm that is both a trust company and an RIA that has been doing it for more than half a century with the backing and expertise of a seventh-generation family enterprise,” Wetherby said in a statement. “We built WAM to be a trusted partner to our client families for generations, and there’s no better partner for our future than a firm that brings generations of experience to the table.”

Merit Financial Advisors, a major hybrid RIA that uses LPL Financial as its brokerage and has capital backers in financial services operating firm Wealth Partners Capital Group and a group of strategic investors led by private equity firm HGGC, has acquired an RIA with $557 million in assets under management. The addition of financial advisors D. Tyler Vernon and Timothy Ralph from Biltmore Capital Advisors and its affiliate, Stone Creek Capital Management, pushed Merit’s size to 25 offices with $5.59 billion in assets. In addition to its AUM and new locations in Princeton, New Jersey, and Boca Raton, Florida, Biltmore and Stone Creek consult on an additional $1.6 billion. The incoming team is bringing a new line of business through margin lending, reporting and other consulting services offered by the firms. “As we look to the future, we have a clear eye toward growth and enhancing our offerings for our clients,” Vernon said in a statement. “The partnership with Merit will propel this mission, allowing us to serve a wider client base with our consulting business and proprietary investment management strategies, while positioning us for future growth opportunities.” The transaction of an undisclosed amount closed on Dec. 31.

Financial advisor Michael McLaughlin of McLaughlin Asset Management left Lincoln Financial Network for LPL Financial as its brokerage and Gladstone Wealth Partners as its office of supervisory jurisdiction. The Haddonfield, New Jersey-based team managed $600 million in client assets with its prior firm. In addition to the founder, the 30-year-old ensemble practice includes partners Monica Lupinetti and Linda McLaughlin, as well as senior wealth management association Meaghan McLaughlin, wealth management associate Kyle Macrina, senior client service associate Danielle Deming and practice management associate Veronica "Ronni" Yates. “As we began searching for a partner to help us serve our clients’ growing needs, LPL Financial and Gladstone stood out, differentiating themselves with their leadership and executive teams, technology infrastructure, culture of innovation and client service,” Michael McLaughlin said in a statement. “In today’s highly complex and evolving global ecosystem, we need the right resources to adapt and excel.”

Two major fee-only RIAs based in and around Philadelphia combined in the fourth quarter, when Wescott Financial Advisory Group acquired Asset Planning Services. After adding roughly $800 million in assets under management primarily from the current and former Merck executives and families that work with Asset Planning, Wescott reached $3.5 billion across the firm. Asset Planning founder Rick Volpe will maintain his position in charge of the firm’s Harleysville, Pennsylvania-based practice while taking the lead role in Wescott’s charitable and estate planning division. “Our leadership group considered a spectrum of models. My greatest concern was that our identity and voice would disappear, and we would simply be additional AUM on their ADV,” Volpe said in a statement. “This combination will strengthen the high-quality services and support we provide our team and clients. We look forward to merging our complementary offerings, innovating together and leveraging shared successes to deliver wealth management solutions for all our clients.”

Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital-backed Mercer Global Advisors acquired Cordasco Financial Network, a Naples, Florida-based hybrid RIA with about $510 million in client assets from over 400 households. The 10-year-old firm founded by financial advisor Steve Cordasco has multiple CPAs on its staff with a focus on the intersection of taxes and wealth management. “Our business model is successful, we are growing fast, but we lack the scale and leverage necessary to accommodate our growth with back-office responsibilities gobbling up valuable time and resources,” Cordasco said in a statement. “I decided to join it rather than build it.” Mercer spans more than 60 offices with 640 employees managing $37 billion in client assets.

Financial advisor Jason Scarpellini left PNC Investments for Raymond James & Associates, where he’s now reporting to Mid-South Regional Director Deborah Cicatelli and branch manager Richard Paris as part of the firm’s eastern office in Louisville, Kentucky. The 12-year veteran managed more than $115 million in client assets with its prior brokerage. “An incredible amount of due diligence and consideration was put into this move,” Scarpellini said in a statement. “Ultimately, I felt that aligning with Raymond James was the best possible option, as it will allow me to provide the level of service my clients deserve.”

Mercer unveiled two other acquisitions this week: Raleigh, North Carolina-based Wrenn Financial Strategies and Franklin, Tennessee-based HawsGoodwin Investment Management. The two independent RIAs manage a combined $918 million in client assets, with $680 million attributable to HawsGoodwin. The 14-year-old team led by financial advisors Art Haws and Cam Goodwin works with 280 clients. “I like the fact that through Mercer Advisors, we could add to our current model and offer our clients a broader array of services, including estate planning, tax analysis and family office services,” Haws said in a statement, “Cam and I also admired the career path opportunities and training programs they had for our staff that foment substantive career development opportunities beyond what we could provide.” Maxie and Janice Wrenn founded the other incoming Mercer practice in 1988, and they work with more than 150 clients. “Janice and I are at that stage in our careers where business succession, or transition planning, was a top-of-mind awareness,” Maxie Wrenn said in a statement. “We were looking to find a partner that we knew would take care of our clients and their families and descendants for years to come at the highest level.”

Private equity-backed Highland Capital Brokerage, a life insurance and annuity distribution firm that’s owned by Advisor Group, acquired Minneapolis-based insurance brokerage Hallett Financial Group and its affiliated insurtech company Quotacy. Brothers Jeremy and Ryan Hallett launched the two incoming firms, and they’ll stay in senior roles with both companies following the deal. The parties didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, which closed Dec. 31. Quotacy will keep its current name, while Hallett is becoming an office of Highland. “These businesses have been closely tied to our family, as well as the vision our father laid out years ago to help consumers find the insurance and annuity products that suit their needs,” Jeremy Hallett said in a statement. “Our legacy and that core mission will not only live on, but thrive in the years to come, with Hallett Financial and Quotacy joining the Highland team.”

A Toledo, Ohio-based team called The TWDS Group dropped Merrill Lynch, where they had managed $525 million in client assets, to open a new branch of RBC Wealth Management. The practice includes Branch Director Robert Thompson, First Vice President David Williams, Vice President Michael Donahue, senior registered client associate Debra Sendelbach and senior investment associate Rawanne Smili. “Moving to RBC Wealth Management provides us access to global resources, along with a unique, smaller-firm culture,” Thompson said in a statement. “The organization has all the capabilities and resources we need and shares our focus on creating the best-possible experience for our valued clients.”

Kingswood U.S., a network of two RIAs and two broker-dealers that launched through a special purpose acquisition company offered by London-based global wealth manager Kingswood, has added seven independent financial advisors. The group managed $295 million in client assets with their prior firm. Kingswood recruited the following advisors: Donald Kuhs out of Austin, Texas; Paul Lee and Namhee Park from Fullerton, California; Barry Waxler of San Diego-based Universal Financial Consultants, Anthony Nardi of Rye Brook, New York; and Cynthia Pulver and John David Jensen from American Fork, Utah. “The recruiting momentum continues at Kingswood as we bring aboard these seasoned financial professionals from across the country,” Kingswood U.S. CEO Michael Nessim said in a statement. “That we could attract this diverse collection of advisors is a testament to the flexibility of our platform and our overall value proposition for them.”

California’s state-run employee retirement plan, CalSavers, is now mandatory as of this month for any employer in the state that has more than 100 employees and does not offer a private workplace retirement plan. If employers that qualify don’t register, the state will hit them with penalties starting at $250 per employee. California was the first state to require employers to offer the state plan if they don’t have a private retirement plan. The idea is to make retirement security accessible to the half of private-sector workers in the state whose workplaces don’t offer a plan, the program’s governing body said in a statement.

LPL Financial’s Strategic Wealth Services affiliation, which offers more services from the corporate office to employee breakaway advisors than they receive in its traditional independent channel, added a major practice from D.A. Davidson. Financial advisor Hugh Lau of Lincoln, Nebraska-based Lau Financial Group managed about $750 million in client assets, and Branch Operations Manager JoAnn Kreitman joined the 22-year veteran advisor in making the move to LPL. “We’re a small team of two, so we needed the added layer of support from LPL Strategic Wealth Services,” Kreitman said in a statement. “This gives us very robust support, but the freedom to build the practice on our own terms.”

Rappaport Reiches Capital Management, a Chicago-area independent RIA, agreed to acquire Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based Frederick Capital Management. Financial advisor John Frederick, whose team manages about $125 million in client assets, started the incoming firm two dozen years ago. “Partnering with RRCM enables me to expand the depth of financial planning services and ensures that my clients will be well-served in the future,” Frederick said in a statement. The acquiring firm founded in 2005 by Chief Growth Officer Shari Greco Reiches and Chief Investment Officer David Rappaport has more than $850 million in client assets.

Boutique wealth manager and investment bank William Blair promoted a 25-year veteran of the firm, President Brent Gledhill, to be its CEO. He replaces John Ettelson, who had been the fifth CEO in the Chicago-based firm’s 87-year history while leading its expansion since 2004 to more than $2.3 billion in annual revenue. In 2021, the firm’s investment management arm acquired Investment Counselors of Maryland, and William Blair’s primary wealth management group opened new offices in Denver, Washington, D.C., and Stamford, Connecticut, while adding incoming advisors to existing branches in Atlanta, Baltimore and New York. The firm’s new CEO first joined the firm as an investment banker in Chicago in 1997 before tenures in the firm’s London office and stateside again as its global head of investment banking. William Blair named him president last summer as part of a leadership transition plan. “I am honored to have been elected as William Blair’s CEO and entrusted to serve the firm by empowering our global team and preserving our unique culture,” Gledhill said in a statement. “I step into this role focused on investing actively to grow the impact we make for clients, by expanding our relationships and intellectual capital, innovating to enhance our processes, and hiring experts around the world who fit our collaborative culture.”

The nonprofit Foundation for Financial Planning opened its 2023 grant request application period while unveiling the list of 18 organizations that will receive them this year through donations from financial advisors who are members and companies sponsoring the pro bono planning programs. The organizations getting funding in 2022 include first-time recipients After Innocence, which plans to connect people exonerated for crimes they didn’t commit with pro bono planners through FFP’s third annual Alexandra Armstrong Innovation Grant, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which will pilot the addition of planning into existing income support and financial coaching services at the Chinese Community Center and Wesley Community Center in Houston. “This funding from FFP will go a long way in enhancing our programs,” Laura Jaramillo, interim executive director of LISC Houston, said in a statement. “Connecting clients with CFP volunteers will complement the comprehensive set of social services that we already offer to Houstonians, helping them gain the skills and knowledge they need to become financially stable.” FFP’s Communities of Color grantees receiving money for pro bono planning services through Pershing’s support for the program in 2022 are: the Caroline Friess Center in Baltimore, Britepaths in Fairfax, Virginia, and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn, New York. FFP is giving out $470,000 in grants this year, with an additional $100,000 through special initiatives.

GTCR-backed RIA consolidator Captrust Financial Advisors made a huge acquisition of a retirement plan and institutional investment program fiduciary firm called Portfolio Evaluations just before the end of the year. The Warren, New Jersey-based firm led by co-founders Attila Toth, Michael Sasso and Rich Torbinski manages $107 billion in assets on behalf of hundreds of clients. “The cornerstones of our success have been our independence, fiduciary process and our focus on serving our clients. CAPTRUST aligns well with these core values and will allow us to continue our remarkable track record of growth,” Toth said in a statement. Captrust has more than $85 billion in assets under management, $660 billion in assets under advisement and 1,000 employees. In 2021, it also acquired Cammack Retirement Group, which has $154 billion in AUA, and Ellwood Associates, which has $85 billion.

Cary Kvitka, Max Schatzow and Ryan Walter, three attorneys formerly with Stark & Stark, have launched their own law firm dedicated to representing independent investment advisors. The aptly named RIA Lawyers will work with mid-sized firms managing between $100 million and $10 billion. “As we enter 2022, we thought it was finally time to practice what we preach,” the attorneys said in an email. “We believe that independence is important in the financial services industry as well as in the legal field.”

RBC Wealth Management U.S. has selected Addepar to provide data aggregation and reporting to its 2,100 financial advisors. The technology will also be available to advisors affiliated with RBC Clearing & Custody. Addepar, which raised $150 million in June and acquired trading and rebalancing software AdvisorPeak in October, will be “an integral part” of RBC Wealth’s vision for advisors technology, according to head of technology Greg Beltzer.

Redtail Technology, a client relationship management software designed for wealth management, is making its compliant text messaging technology, Redtail Speak, available to advisors who aren’t CRM customers. Redtail also updated Speak with a variety of enhancements, including the ability to set up message templates and schedule messages to publish in the future. “More so than ever before, people now expect seamless experiences with almost immediate response times in every aspect of their lives, including financial advisory services,” said Redtail CEO Brian McLaughlin. “We’re happy to be able to help advisors connect with their clients, and vice versa, whenever they want and in a compliant manner.”