Rockefeller hires top-ranked Merrill team to further expansion efforts

Rockefeller Capital Management added to its growing advisor ranks and branched out into the Centennial State.

The New York-based firm picked up a four-member team from Merrill Lynch to staff a new office in Denver. The group includes advisors Matthew Richeda and Christopher Farr; Christopher Nazzaro, senior client associate; and Anna Miller, client associate.

Richeda was ranked as one of Forbes’ best-in-state wealth advisors for 2021. The publication listed him as having $331 million in client assets. Richeda started his career at A.G. Edwards in 1994 and moved to Merrill Lynch in 1996, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

Farr began his advisory career at Merrill in 2011, according to BrokerCheck.

“Building on the steady growth our private wealth business experienced last year, we are thrilled to welcome The Richeda and Farr Group as our first team in Colorado,” Michael Armondo, who oversees Rockefeller’s central division, said in a statement. Armondo also joined the firm from Merrill Lynch in 2019; he had served as a market executive for the wirehouse in Dallas.

Recruiting

With $2.3B in new hires, Rockefeller furthers hot recruiting streak

The firm is targeting elite advisors who cater to high-net-worth and ultrahigh-net-worth clients.

By Andrew Welsch

September 14

Rockefeller, a spinoff from the family office of the same name, has been aggressively courting top wirehouse talent as part of its expansion efforts. Last year, it added advisors in Scottsdale, Arizona; Walnut Creek, California; and Chicago. In January, the firm drew three ex-wirehouse teams into its fold from Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. Rockefeller caters to ultrahigh-net-worth clients and their families.

The firm’s leadership ranks are populated by former wirehouse executives such as Greg Fleming, Chris Randazzo and Chris Dupuy.

Rockefeller’s private wealth business fields 45 teams across the U.S.