Slideshow Advisors on the Move: Recent Breakaways, Recruits and More

Click through for a running list of the most recent advisor moves in the employee advisor channel.

Jan. 14, 2014


Two former Morgan Stanley advisors have joined Steward Partners Global Advisory, an employee-owned, partnership serving family and institutional clients founded by former senior executives from Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason.


Rick Pignone is joining Steward Partners as managing director and founding partner, launching the Andover, Mass., office. Pignone started at Smith Barney in 1995 and has been an advisor for 18 years. He formerly managed $240 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley.


Chris Reaney, CFP, is becoming wealth manager, senior vice president and founding partner in the firm’s Portsmouth, N.H., office. Reaney has worked in the financial services industry for 19 years. He previously managed $110 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley.

Jan. 14, 2014


Baird has promoted Steve Booth to president. In addition to his new responsibilities, he will continue in his roles as chief operating officer and co-head of Baird’s equity markets business. Effective Jan. 1, Booth transferred leadership of the firm’s global investment banking unit to veteran Baird bankers, Brian Doyal and Brian McDonagh.


The move is part of a succession plan that sees Booth succeeding current CEO Paul Purcell in January 2016. Both men joined Baird in 1994.

Jan. 14, 2014


Snowden Capital Advisors, an independent, advisor-owned wealth advisory firm headquartered in New York City, has added Caesar Cepeda as vice president and private wealth advisor at the firm’s office in Pasadena, Calif.


Prior to joining Snowden, Cepeda worked for 26 years at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor.

Jan. 14, 2014


Raymond James announced that it has recruited financial advisors Benjamin Weiner, Michal Hlavek, Duke Marsh and Daniel Iosue from Morgan Stanley to its independent channel. The team now operates an independent firm just outside Orlando, Fla., called Winter Park Wealth Group. While affiliated with Morgan Stanley, the group managed more than $550 million in client assets and generated $2.3 million in annual fees and commissions.


Weiner has been in the financial services industry since 1986 and spent many years as a member of Morgan Stanley’s leadership councils. Hlavek began his career as an analyst for Smith Barney (Morgan Stanley acquired Smith Barney in 2009) in Atlanta responsible for money manager research and analysis before joining forces with Weiner in 2001.


Marsh joined Shearson/American Express in 1979 and spent 33 years with the firm that eventually morphed into Morgan Stanley. Iosue arrived at Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor in 2011.

Jan. 14, 2014


It’s the end of an era at Raymond James.


The regional broker-dealer announced recently that its Global Private Client Group CEO Chet Helck is retiring after a 25-year career with the firm. He will step down from his role at the February board of directors meeting but will remain a special senior advisor through the end of 2014 to help with the transition period.


The Private Client Group Helck has overseen is the largest business unit at Raymond James. Firm officials emphasized that under Helck's leadership, the group grew significantly in size and reputation.

December 11, 2013

UBS recently hired Courtney Liddy as a senior vice president and wealth management advisor in the firm’s San Diego office. Liddy has nearly two decades of experience in the field and comes from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where she had $326,900,000 in AUM. In her new role, her duties will include concentrated stock strategies, liability management, estate planning services, and institutional money management. She will report to branch manager Scott Hollaender.

December 2, 2013

Jason Taraszki and Jay Arbetter join in the firm’s North Dallas office in Addison, Texas. They spent 13 and 28 years respectively at Merrill Lynch where Taraszki had $100 million in AUM and $782,000 in production and Arbetter had $175 million in AUM and $1.3 million in production. They specialize in private portfolio asset management and family consulting and will report to managing director Chris Gerrish. They moved with a team or two client service associates, Victoria Stoker and Amanda Edwards.

December 11, 2013

RBC Wealth Management recently welcomed the Wiegel Domino Group to its Midtown New York office. The Wiegel Domino Group, comprised of senior vice president David Wiegel and vice president Steven Domino, joins RBC from Morgan Stanley. Combined, the two advisors have over 30 years of experience, more than $170 million in AUM and almost $1.2 million in production.

December 6, 2013

Morgan Stanley has recently added the Daniels and Levy team to their Cincinnati, Ohio, office. The team, made up of Jennifer Daniels and Karen Levy, will report to branch manager Ron Bass.

December 2013

Wells Fargo Advisors has added the Feast Financial Group, a team comprised of stepfather and stepdaughter, John Feast and Mary Marett, to their Marlton, N.J., office. They join WFA from Janney, Montgomery, Scott bringing with them 25 years of experience and $106 million in AUM and $1.3 million in production.

December 2013

Wells Fargo Advisors welcomes Dave Engel and Tom Penrose to the firm’s Philadelphia branch. The team joins from Morgan Stanley and has $250 million in AUM and $1.6 million in production. They run a family-managed business where Penrose serves as a portfolio manager and Engel focuses on planning, insurance and annuities.

December 2013

Wells Fargo advisors adds UBS team, TPM Wealth Management Group to their Jackson, Miss., branch. The team is comprised of Andrew Townes, Don Parsons and Charlie Mitchell. Combined, they have over 100 years of experience in the industry and $250 million in AUM and $1.6 million in production.

Stifel has announced, that Michael J. Sullivan has joined the firm as Managing Director – Private Client Group and eastern region director of its broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company. In his new role he will provide wealth management and investment advisory services to his clients, and will also be responsible for developing cross-organizational partnerships to strengthen client relationships and expanding the firm’s presence along the east coast. Sullivan has over 29 years of experience and joins Stifel from Merrill Lynch where he most recently served as managing director and head of the firm’s Cross-Organizational Client Coverage Group. He will be based in the firm’s Private Client Group office in Garden City, New York, and will also maintain an office in Midtown Manhattan.

Wells Fargo has picked up three former Morgan Stanley advisors with $185 million in assets and $2.2 million in production. Advisors Andrew Jacobson, Shawn Hare and Gregory Hoelzel joined the firm in Woodland Hills, Calif. They will operate as The Jacobson, Hare and Hoelzel Group.



Jacobson began his career at Morgan Stanley in 1998 and also spent time at UBS, according to FINRA records.



Hare has almost 14 years of experience and started at UBS in 2000, registration records show.



Hoelzel, who has 23 years of experience, began his career at Dean Witter in 1991. He joined UBS in 2001 before moving to Citigroup and then Morgan Stanley.

RBC Wealth Management names Kirstin Turner as director of the firm’s West Palm Beach complex. With more than 13 years in the financial services industry, Turner joins RBC Wealth Management from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Houston branch, where she managed 40 financial advisors with $5 billion in AUM. In her new position, Turner will oversee approximately 60 financial advisors and 100 total employees, serving clients in six branches including, St. Petersburg, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Naples, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach Gardens.

UBS announces it has appointed Stephen McCashin as office manager for its San Francisco Private Wealth Management office. McCashin has been with UBS since the start of his career in the Graduate Training Program. Most recently, he served as the Complex Director for Northern California, overseeing six offices with revenues in excess of $100mm. Prior to that, he held several management positions within the firm.

RBC Wealth Management names Rob Spawn senior managing director of the firm’s San Francisco complex. Spawn has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He joins RBC Wealth Management from UBS where he was responsible for building the Las Vegas market, leading the Nevada-Utah and Houston complexes and, most recently, he was associate complex director for Arizona/New Mexico. Spawn will oversee approximately 70 financial advisors and 125 total employees serving clients in eight branches including, San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, Monterey, El Dorado Hills, Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa and Oakland.

UBS Private Wealth Management has added Scott Harries to its Los Angeles office. Harries comes from the Private Bank and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch, where he worked since 2000. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs in the Private Client Services Division. He brings with him his team, also from Merrill Lynch PBIG, which has $500,000,000 in AUM (assets and liabilities).

In Baltimore, Md., the firm picked up the Velnoskey Wealth Management Group (pictured above), which is comprised of advisors Douglas Velnoskey and Bryan Carney. They previously oversaw $190 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley and are joined by their client associates, Kramer Beal and Brian Etzler.

The firm picked up former RBC advisors John Goles and Steven DeBoy in Bel Air, Md. Goles previously managed $175 million in client assets. They are joined by their client assistant Carol Palitti.

RBC Wealth Management has added the Emmerling Wealth Management Group to the Pittsburgh office, according to senior managing director Ken M. Ross. The Emmerling Group joins RBC from UBS where they had approximately $300 million in assets under management and close to $2.2 million in combined production. The team, led by senior vice president Frank Emmerling, an advisor with 28 years of industry experience, is comprised of associate vice president and advisor Leslie Craven, CFP®; advisor Frank B. Emmerling, Jr., CFP ®; senior financial associate William Winkeler, Jr.; and registered client associate Mary Jane McCarrick.

UBS has picked up four teams in California. All of the teams joined from Merrill Lynch and, combined, managed $1.8 billion in client assets.



James Axelson and Barry Porter joined the Newport Beach, Calif., complex reporting to Ron Meraz. Together they managed $550 million in assets. Axelson and Porter have been in the financial services industry since 1990 and 1988, respectively.



Christopher Gaal and Jeffrey Hamilton joined the Newport Beach office and also report to Meraz. The team previously had $575 AUM. Gaal has over 30 years of industry experience and had been at Merrill Lynch since 1996. Hamilton is also an industry veteran with 20 years of client relationship and business development experience. He partnered with Gaal in 2007 after starting with Merrill Lynch in 2005.



James Chiate and Anthony Guinane also joined the Newport Beach complex and report to Michael Goldfader. Chiate and Guinane together had $500 million AUM. Chiate began his career in 2003. Guinane started at Merrill Lynch in 1998.



David Mandel joined the Encino, Calif., office reporting to Robert East. Mandel, who had $175 AUM, has over 32 years of industry experience. He started with Prudential in 1981 and joined Merrill Lynch in 2004.

Benjamin Edwards has opened its 39th office with the addition of two former Wells Fargo advisors. Dawn Pilipchuk-Kruth and her brother, Nickolas D. Pilipchuk will operate as the Pilipchuk Wealth Management Team in Waterloo, Iowa. The firm, which is based in St. Louis, Mo., currently has over 130 brokers in 21 states.



Dawn Pilipchuk-Kruth began her career at A.G. Edwards in 2002, according to records with the financial industry regulatory authority. She moved to Wells Fargo in 2008 through a serious of acquisitions.



Nickolas D. Pilipchuk-Kruth joined the industry in 2010 when he partnered with his sister at Wells Fargo.

UBS has expanded its advisor force with the addition of a former Merrill Lynch team with $3.1 billion in assets under management.


The Binder, Chiate, Oratz & Brown team, comprised of Mark Binder, Craig Chiate, Glenn Oratz and Scott Brown moved to UBS’ Los Angeles, Calif., office. All four had previously been advisors with Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group, which focuses on high net worth clients with over $5 million in assets.


Mark Binder began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York in 1994, according to registration records at FINRA. He had been at Merrill Lynch in California for the past 13 years and served as a managing director.


Chiate started his career at Goldman Sachs in 1997 and had also been at Merrill Lynch since 2000, according to FINRA records.


Twenty-year industry veteran Glenn Oratz began at Goldman Sachs in 1993 before moving with the team to Merrill Lynch in 2000.


Scott Brown started at Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles in 2003.


As of September 30, UBS reported that it had some 7,137 advisors, up from 7,032 in September of 2012.


Read the full story here.


Image: Bloomberg

The firm picked up the Borowiak/Sotland Wealth Management Group in Buffalo, N.Y. The two advisors, Matthew Sotland and Donald Borowiak, were most recently with UBS where they managed $129 million of combined assets and produced $1.3 million in fees and commissions.

UBS added The Reinhold Group to their Buffalo, N.Y., office on October 15th. The Reinhold Group is a father-son team consisting of John and Derek Reinhold.



John Reinhold and an associate opened the Shearson Hayden Stone Buffalo office, a predecessor firm to what is now Morgan Stanley, in 1976. He has $120 million AUM and $1.4 million in production, and also holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst^SM designation from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.



Prior to joining his father’s practice in September of 2008, Derek Reinhold began his career as a sales liaison with Morgan Stanley’s Consulting Group and its predecessor firm in Wilmington, DE. He was then promoted to regional consulting group technical analyst in Seattle, WA, and then onto Los Angeles, CA in the divisional office. He has $24 million AUM and $290,227 in production. Derek is a Financial Planning Specialist and holds the IMCA Correspondence designation.

Morgan Stanley has expanded operations in Louisville, Ky., with a former UBS duo who produced over $3 million in combined revenue.


The firm picked up advisors Robert P. Schneider and Paige Abner-Peden who operate as The Schneider Wealth Management Group. Together, they managed some $334 million in assets at UBS.


Abner-Peden began her career in 1999 with UBS, according to FINRA records.


Schneider has 24 years of experience in the industry and had been with UBS since 1990, registration records show.


At the time of his joining Morgan Stanley, he had a pending customer dispute seeking $2.1 million in compensatory damages for allegedly unsuitable investments tied to an investment in UPS stock from 2008 to 2009, according to a summary submitted by UBS to his public brokercheck record.


A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman said that the firm was aware of the disclosure and evaluated it as part of their due diligence during the hiring process.


Read the full story here.


Image: Bloomberg

Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. announced on September 21 the addition of three new financial advisors, Mike Crego, Jon Lewis and Rhea Aronhalt, to their new branch office in Rome, Georgia.

Mike Crego will serve as the branch manager and managing director of investments. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Jon Lewis will act as a managing director of investments. Prior to joining the securities industry, he spent 12 years in private and public accounting, and also holds a CPA certification.

Rhea Aronhalt will assume the role of financial consultant. She has worked with Lewis since 2007 and she got her Certified Financial Planner certificate in 2011.

Benjamin Edwards continues its expansion, picking up five former Wells Fargo advisors and three new offices in Colorado, Texas and Michigan.



In Denver, Colo., the firm adds Mark Fellows, who joins as a senior vice president and regional manager. Fellows began his career in 1986 and will also serve on Benjamin Edwards’ board of directors.



In Midland, Mich., the firm picks up the Legacy Wealth Management team to open its first office in the state. The team is comprised of: Matt G. Bishop, a 12-year industry veteran, Ralph A. Brozzo, who began his financial career in 1995 and Dana Gibbs who has 21 years of experience under her belt. All three will be serving as vice presidents of investments in the new Midland office.



In Dallas, Texas, the firm adds Lois Powell as senior vice president and director for the Texas market. She has 30 years of experience and will report to Roger Buller, senior vice president and Midwest regional manager.