Advisor moves: Rockefeller and Raymond James both pull from Merrill

ByDan Shaw

October 25, 2024 11:54 AM

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Advisor moves and M&A are always shaking up the wealth management industry.

Every week, Financial Planning rounds up notable advisor moves and deals; see the details below.

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Rockefeller 16-person group managing $2B from Merrill

Rockefeller has brought on DiMedio Wealth Partners, a 16-person team formerly managing roughly $2 billion at Merrill.

The team is joining Rockefeller Global Family Office, Rockefeller's wealth management division. DiMedio Wealth Partners is based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and is led by managing director and private advisor Chris DiMedio, who started his career at Merrill in 2000.

Also part of the group are the senior vice presidents and private advisors Jonathan Battillo, Anthony Ferrandino and Sean Moreland; the vice presidents and private advisors Sean Arnold, Percy Mason, Patrick Sweet and Kyle Comerford. DiMedio specializes in working with high net worth and ultrahigh net worth families and clients.

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Raymond James draws in $1.3B team from Merrill

Raymond James has recruited an advisor who formerly managed more than $1.3 billion at Merrill.

Raymond James announced this week that Melinda Johnston is joining its employee-advisor channel, Raymond James & Associates. Her practice, M2J Wealth Management Group of Raymond James, will operate out of Fort Worth, Texas.

Joining her is the practice manager Kristin Stanley, investment portfolio associate Nick Olivarri and senior client service associate Judy Frank. The team specializes in working with business owners, corporate executives, family offices and individual clients.

Johnston started her career in 1984 at Prudential and joined UBS in 1995. She was at Merrill from 2016 to 2024.

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Raymond James pulls in $1B team

Raymond James has pulled over a team managing more than $1 billion from Merrill.

Scott Klein Gates Gandolfo Wealth Management of Raymond James is joining Raymond James & Associates, the firm's employee channel, in Williamsville, New York. Christopher Scott, Kevin Klein, Michael Gates and Salvatore Gandolfo lead the nine-member team. Joining them are the financial advisor Jeffrey Baker and client relationship associates Alicia Birch, Jaclyn Greiner, Christina Ivancic and Elia Criola.

The group works with business owners, endowments and foundations, families and individual clients, retirees and retirement plans.

Scott, Klein and Gates have been at Merrill their entire careers. Scott started there in 1999, Klein in 2006 and Gates in 2009. Gandolfo moved to Merrill in 2010 after two years at Federated Securities.

LPL pulls $800M team from Osaic

LPL Financial has recruited a team named Dougherty, Tedesco & Associates that had formerly managed $800 million at Osaic.

The practice was founded in the Cincinnati area in the 1980s by Charlotte Dougherty. It's now led by the financial advisors Andrew Tedesco and John Dougherty III. Joining them are the sales assistant John Dougherty Jr., director of client services Caitlin Ackerman and support staff members Rita Anno and Ben Verchick.

The team's services include financial planning, investment management, and retirement and estate planning.

LPL recruits advisor with $210 million in AUM

LPL Financial has brought on an advisor formerly managing $210 million at First Kentucky Securities.

LPL announced this week that William Fenwick had joined it in Louisville, Kentucky. Fenwick was a founder and part-owner of First Kentucky Securities. He is joining LPL's broker-dealer, RIA and custodial channels.

Fenwick is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer. He started in the industry at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1986 and moved to two other firms before moving to First Kentucky Securities in 2005.

Modern Wealth pushes AUM over $6B with fee-only firm purchase

Modern Wealth Management, a registered investment advisory, has bought Boise, Idaho-based Petso Financial Consultant, a fee-only firm with roughly $1.4 billion under management.

The acquisition marks Modern Wealth's eleventh deal to date and its sixth this year. The firm now has more than $6 billion under management.

Petso Financial was founded in 2001 by David Petso. The firm offers investment management, financial planning, estate planning and retirement income planning for both individual and corporate clients. Petso Financial dropped its broker-dealer affiliation in 2015 and became an independent RIA.

The firm now consists of a 10-person team. Modern Wealth will help the group with finding client leads, accounting, compliance, technology and human resources, among other things. Modern Wealth, in return, gets to extend its presence in the northwest. Modern Wealth now has 14 client-facing offices in 11 states.

Dynasty's Americana gets ownership stake from private equity firm

Americana Partners, a Houston-based firm with more than $8.5 billion under management, is receiving a capital injection from the private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners.

The investment by Lovell Minnick marks the first time an outside firm has taken a stake in Americana, which is part of the Dynasty Financial Partners network. Americana will continue to be run by its current leadership teams and its employees will remain in place.

American was founded in 2019 with $2.6 billion in assets under management. It offers services to wealthy clients and family offices throughout the U.S., as well as through a new Latin American division.