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InDepth

Top Program Managers (11-20)

By Rebecca Stropoli
June 1, 2020 5:05 AM
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We continue our annual ranking of the most successful managers of investment services programs at banks and credit unions. Below you will find our second installment of Top Program Managers with Nos. 11 through 20.

Size measurements were used, as were metrics including percentage changes in AUM and production, as well as production per advisor.We calculate our own estimates for production-per-advisor based on numbers submitted in our nomination process. Those variables were combined into one composite score to determine our final ranking. (We rounded numbers for display in the slideshow, but all of our calculations used the full numbers submitted, before rounding.)

Our list is purely quantitative — the winners’ backgrounds and biographies did not factor into our ranking, but they do help to provide a well-rounded portrait of our featured managers and their strengths. This year, several managers discussed how they and their teams are managing the COVID-19 crisis, and what changes they think it might bring to the industry. Note that, when ranking numbers are repeated, this means there is a tie in final managers’ scores. Scroll through to meet No. 11–20 of this year’s Top Program Managers.

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11. Joseph Hage

Bank: Citi Personal Wealth Management
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
TPM: N/A
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 21
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 44
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $3.9 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $3.5 billion
Team 2019 production: $23.3 million
Team 2018 production: $21.3 million
Production per advisor: $607,390
% of 2019 production from fee business: 20%

Joseph Hage is a senior vice president, wealth group, executive with Citi Personal Wealth Management, and currently manages the Florida market for the firm. He has been in the investment business since 1985, and managing investment professionals for the past 35 years. He joined Citi in 1995. Hage was previously named a BIC Top Program Manager in 2018 and 2019. As a manager, his top priority is making sure the client is always number one. With so much regulation within the brokerage industry today, an important aspect of his responsibility as a leader is ensuring his team is always focused on following company and industry policy. One trend Hage sees affecting the bank channel today is the large reduction in branch traffic. With clients using digital banking more often, his team has worked hard to continue to communicate through calls and emails.
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12. Karen Benedict

Bank: Northwest Federal Credit Union
Location: Herndon, Virginia
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 11
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 11
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.6 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $1.3 billion
Team 2019 production: $13.2 million
Team 2018 production: $12.8 million
Production per advisor: $1.2 million
% of 2019 production from fee business: 90%

A key trend in the wealth management industry is enhancing technology and digitalization. Karen Benedict has been addressing this trend by embracing new technologies and digital solutions. For example, even as she conducted a major renovation of the main office space to allow for expansion, she made digitizing client paper files a high priority in 2019. This has benefited advisors who do not work in the main office, by giving them a more efficient way to access client records. It has also been a major factor in ensuring service continuity despite the necessity to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to enabling digital access to client files, Benedict’s steadfast oversight and direction has ensured her team team was well-prepared for the crisis.
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13. John Beard

Bank: Northwest Bank
Location: Warren, Pennsylvania
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 37
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 38
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.7 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $1.3 billion
Team 2019 production: $9.9 million
Team 2018 production: $7.8 million
Production per advisor: $266,518
% of 2019 production from fee business: 59%

John Beard joined Northwest in the early spring of 2004 as an advisor and program manager for the Northwest investment service program. The program had six advisors, contributed less than 1% of the bank's non-interest income and had almost no visibility in the bank space. Since that time, Beard has brought the program through several small broker-dealers and finally to LPL, where the program has grown to over 60 financial professionals and is a core part of the bank's non-interest income. Beard is now part of the senior management leadership team. It is this relentless attention to customer experience across all business lines that has enabled Northwest to win the JD Powers award for customer satisfaction in its mid-Atlantic region seven times over the past decade.
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13. Matt Dailey

Bank: BECU
Location: Tukwila, Washington
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 29
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 28
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $2.15 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $1.75 billion
Team 2019 production: $10.9 million
Team 2018 production: $9.9 million
Production per advisor: $382,959
% of 2019 production from fee business: 77%

Matt Dailey is the vice president of wealth services for BECU. He has focused on implementing financial planning, which has contributed to the program bringing on a substantial amount of new AUM. BECU was in the top five across all of LPL for new assets in 2019. Dailey grew the wealth services leadership team by adding a sales manager in 2019, as well as an operations/project manager. This has contributed to BECU moving forward with its initiatives more quickly and efficiently. Dailey has been in the industry for more than 25 years and has held various leadership positions.
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15. Dave Renko

Bank: Woodforest National Bank
Location: The Woodlands, Texas
TPM: Raymond James
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 17
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 16
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.2 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $930.6 million
Team 2019 production: $7.2 million
Team 2018 production: $6.4 million
Production per advisor: $437,563
% of 2019 production from fee business: 65%

Dave Renko balances the challenges of business and advisor growth with a measured approach to the bottom line. He addresses leadership challenges proactively, and leads with courage and a willingness to follow convictions with an "all-in" attitude, even in the face of failure. At Woodforest, he provides a platform that expands the capabilities of the bank, in turn helping it attain larger wallet share, client retention and stability. Renko encourages and prioritizes a collaborative environment for financial advisors and regional managers, and on behalf of clients.
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16. Robert Carr

Bank: Central Trust Bank
Location: Jefferson City, Missouri
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 43
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 42
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $2.6 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $2.2 billion
Team 2019 production: $11.7 million
Team 2018 production: $8.2 million
Production per advisor: $275,034
% of 2019 production from fee business: 68%

Bob Carr is managing director for investment advisors; a 35-member advisor team at Central Trust Bank. He began his career with Merrill Lynch as a broker in 1979, and spent 20 years at Commerce Bank before joining Central Bank as the managing director of investment advisors in 2013. Carr focuses on the recruiting and development of his team and ensures they are prepared to use the products, tools and other resources provided to attract and manage client assets. Carr is continually looking for ways to optimize his program. In addition to recruiting, he uses strategies such as advisor graduation programs, rightsizing books of business and branch territories, and expanding digital investment. The efforts of Carr and his management team have created an environment that allows their advisors to better serve clients.
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17. Ken Ellspermann

Bank: Old National Bank
Location: Evansville, Indiana
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 65
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 71
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $4.5 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $4 billion
Team 2019 production: $23.9 million
Team 2018 production: $22.6 million
Production per advisor: $351,487
% of 2019 production from fee business: 66%

Ken Ellspermann led Old National Bank to 6% revenue growth in 2019, while also continuing to build a nimble and multi-channel wealth management organization. Under Ellspermann’s leadership, the program has made significant strides in program optimization, including establishing a centralized small client solutions team, developing a succession planning strategy for advisor, and moving higher-performing team members to the second story. Ellspermann has been with the bank for over 15 years and has been a driving force in evolving from a team with less than 10 advisors to an omnichannel wealth management organization.
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18. Jestin Dohner

Bank: Johnson Bank
Location: Racine, Wisconsin
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 17
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 16
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.43 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $1.18 billion
Team 2019 production: $7.14 million
Team 2018 production: $5.37 million
Production per advisor: $570,076
% of 2019 production from fee business: 66%

As vice president, financial services manager, Jestin Dohner leads a team of advisors in developing business plans focused on building and deepening client relationships. Since joining the Johnson Financial Group team in 2018, Dohner has successfully managed the firm's conversion to LPL. Under his leadership, assets and production have grown substantially. With 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Dohner has a strong record of developing and retaining talent while building strategic relationships with industry executives throughout the country. Dohner started his career in 1999 and has experience working as a financial advisor, compliance officer, operations manager, sales manager and program manager.
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18. Chad Waddoups

Bank: Mountain America CU
Location: West Jordan, Utah
TPM: LPL Financial
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 36
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 32
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.4 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $1.2 billion
Team 2019 production: $10.5 million
Team 2018 production: $9.4 million
Production per advisor: $309,597
% of 2019 production from fee business: 42%

Chad Waddoups is the vice president of wealth management and business services for Mountain America Credit Union. His teams consist of professionals who strive to provide credit union members with a positive, engaging experience as they receive retirement guidance. Waddoups has focused on scaling his team to adequately provide value to members. He has helped expand the team of associate advisors, which has freed up the capacity of their senior advisors and contributed to growth in AUM and revenue. These efforts helped them have one of their strongest years to date in 2019, leading them to No. 2 at LPL in terms of new assets.
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20. Rich Koll

Bank: Investors Bank
Location: Brooklyn, New York
TPM: Cetera Financial Institutions
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2020): 33
Number of advisors personally overseen (as of as of Jan. 1, 2019): 27
Team AUM ((as of Jan. 1, 2020): $1.02 billion
Team AUM (as of Jan. 1, 2019): $792 million
Team 2019 production: $8.6 million
Team 2018 production: $7.4 million
Production per advisor: $288,457
% of 2019 production from fee business: 7%

When Rich Koll joined Investors Bank in 2017, the investment program had 12 advisors with $4.2 million in production for that year. He soon decided to revamp the program, including converting to Cetera Financial Institutions, and his program's revenue increased by 105% from 2017 to 2019. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Koll and his team are hosting numerous client and team calls, and utilizing their marketing tool to inform clients about topical issues related to the markets and available products. Koll has also developed remote working procedures, including a money movement process, and he allows his advisors to meet their clients in the branch with prior approval.
Rebecca Stropoli
InDepth Top program managers Bank Advisor Coronavirus
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