Career moves

The hiring comes roughly a month after Ida Liu resigned and the firm embarked on a regional restructuring.

Kevin Keller prides himself on the growing public awareness of the CFP mark while warning that his successor is likely to face increased competition from other groups.

Also this week, LPL pulls a big team from Raymond James, Merrill from Morgan Stanley and Dynasty from CIBC.

In a legal response, LPL contends it has been sued at least seven times in the past year after recruiting advisors from industry rival Ameriprise.

In an industry with too few advisors, many say the failure rate for newcomers remains disconcertingly high. But brokers on Financial Planning's top 40 under 40 list say they wouldn't be where they are without early career training.

The RIA aggregators Prime Capital and Corient also made their marks with big acquisitions.

Mercer Global Advisors and EP Wealth also extend their reach into the Nashville, Tennessee area with RIA acquisitions.

Thrust into the top leadership role, Rich Steinmeier oversees strong results in his first six months.

Atop the standard-setting organization since 2007, Kevin Keller has seen its ranks of certification holders nearly double and has overseen work to bring more diversity to the profession.

JPMorgan also builds out the ranks of its private advisory group with execs poached from Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Ernst & Young.