The largest enterprise in a major wealth manager’s independent channel grabbed two more teams from rivals as part of its ambitious strategy to build eight to 10 offices nationwide each with up to $1 billion in assets under management.
Kuttin Wealth Management has nearly doubled its headcount of financial advisors in the past year to 80 representatives managing $4.2 billion in client assets, CEO Jon Kuttin said in an interview. In 2017, Kuttin embarked on a quest to spread his New York-based practice’s approach to more Ameriprise offices through recruiting, M&A deals and organic growth. The firm’s newest recruits from LPL Financial and Morgan Stanley bring $370 million in client assets.
The respective teams will join existing Kuttin offices in the Cleveland and Dallas areas that the CEO refers to as “beachheads” of its expansion to particular markets. One of the incoming practices, financial advisor Larry Teichman’s Caritas Financial, is selling to Kuttin for succession purposes as part of its move from LPL after 23 years. Kuttin said the firm has made about 10 acquisitions over the past three years. The firm also has a CPA referral program spanning 75 accounting practices that have brought $400 million in net new assets this year.
“We're about developing people, giving them the fertile ground and fertile soil,” Kuttin said. “When you help people grow, the entire organization grows and blossoms because everyone's connected.”
Representatives for LPL didn’t respond to a request for comment on the exit of Teichman’s Chesterland, Ohio-based team, which includes financial advisors Christopher Puhalsky, Everard Corcoran, Carey Freimuth and three other employees. The practice has $320 million in client assets, and it joined Ameriprise on July 29, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.
“We were very impressed with Ameriprise and Kuttin Wealth Management’s approach to financial planning and advice,” Teichman said in a statement. “We wanted a partner who shares our values and dedication to clients.”
In the other move, Arlington, Texas-based solo practitioner J Carrell left Morgan Stanley for Ameriprise on July 20 after a dozen years with the wirehouse, BrokerCheck shows. He manages about $50 million in client assets as a newly converted advisor following 16 years as a senior portfolio manager.
“After a yearlong due diligence process, there was no doubt that Kuttin Wealth was where I wanted to spend the rest of my career,” Carrell said in a statement. “The team is known for their attention to detail and personalized service, and I’m excited to share this culture with my clients.”
Representatives for Morgan Stanley declined a request for comment on his move.
Recruiter Michael Terrana of the Chicago-based Terrana Group works with Kuttin as a client, though he wasn’t involved in either of the two most recent placements, he said.
“They have all the resources of Ameriprise, and they run a highly consultative ultra high net worth office, almost to the family office style,” Terrana said. “You can see why independent teams might be looking to connect.”
Kuttin’s strategy revolves around its half dozen beachheads, which currently extend to upstate New York, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in addition to its headquarters and the two others adding advisors in the recent recruiting moves. The firm aims to add two to four more of them and bulk up each of the outposts to $1 billion in AUM. A couple of Kuttin’s largest current advisors once served as an intern and an administrative assistant with the firm. It now has its sights on attracting more advisors from wirehouses and other banks, as well as independents.
“It's really more about the advisor him or herself and whether or not they'll be a good fit for the organization,” Kuttin said.
