Industry

Great-West Retirement Services has hired Adam Blitz as regional sales director for Long Island, a newly created position in which he is responsible for developing 401(k) plan business through brokers, financial advisers, consultants, wirehouses and third-party administrators.

Financial advisors are turning their backs on traditional wirehouses, bank brokerages and independent broker-dealers at rapid pace, according to a new report from Charles Schwab, opting instead for a hybrid model that allows them to serve as both an RIA and a registered rep and expand their pool of potential clients.

The Boston fund company named D. William Kohli, Michael V. Salm and Paul D. Scanlon co-heads of fixed income.

UBS has hired Louise F. Gunderson as a new managing director of investments for its midtown New York office.

Northern Trust announced Thursday it reached an agreement to buy the fund administration, investment operations outsourcing and custody business of the Bank of Ireland Group, Bank of Ireland Securities Services.

Advisor-owned firm HighTower has expanded its advisor force with the addition of four Merrill Lynch veterans in Portland, Maine.

The St. Louis brokerage company continues to its slow-but-steady growth with new addition in Connecticut.

Robert S. Zuccaro will rejoin GAMCO Investors as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He is currently the chief financial officer of Commonwealth Management Partners. Previously, Zuccaro was executive vice president and chief accounting officer with National Financial Partners. Prior to joining GAMCO originally in 1998, Zuccaro was the vice president and treasurer of Cybex International, where he worked for 13 years. Before, that he was with Shearson Lehman, and began his career with Ernst & Young.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Friday that Enforcement Executive Director James S. Shorris will leave the self-regulatory agency in April and return to the private sector.More information about the reason for Shorris’ departure or his future role were not disclosed.

Baird has added one advisor to its Charlotte, N.C., office, and three to its Charleston, S.C., office. All four come from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.