Advisor moves: Raymond James, LPL, Bank of America and big deals

Advisor moves: Raymond James lands $1B LPL team; $2.7B Citi private banker joins BofA

September 20, 2024 1:13 PM

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Advisor moves and M&A are constantly roiling the wealth management industry.

Each week, Financial Planning rounds up notable advisor moves and deals; see the details below.

Raymond James pulls advisors managing $1B from LPL, Zions Bank

Raymond James has recruited three financial advisors formerly affiliated with Zions Bank and LPL Financial to its independent channel.

Raymond James announced this week that it had brought over Jaden Gurney, Trevor Hanson and Jonathan Rogers, a trio of advisors who had together previously managed roughly $1 billion in client assets for Salt Lake City-based Zions Bank and LPL. The three are joining Raymond James' channel for independent advisors, Raymond James Financial Services, according to a press release.

Joining them are Katie King, a financial consultant; and Jesica Mangum and Elisa Meacham, both client services managers. The team has Utah offices not only in Salt Lake City but also in Richfield and St. George. Its clients include business owners and people nearing retirement.

Gurney has 12 years in the wealth management industry, nine of which were at LPL. Hanson has 17 years of experience and was at LPL for eight of those. And Rogers has 10 years of experience and was with LPL for nine of those.

Bank of America draws $2.7B private banker from Citi

Bank of America has recruited a private banker who had formerly managed $2.7 billion for Citi Private Bank in Atlanta.

Austin Koenen is joining Bank of America Private Bank, where he will help clients in Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of the southeast U.S. with investing, philanthropy, credit and wealth planning, according to a press release announcing the move. Koenen has 20 years of industry experience, working as both a private banker and investment banker.

He started at Morgan Stanley in 1999 and had stints at Lehman Brothers and Nomura International. He joined J.P. Morgan Securities in 2013 and Citigroup in 2018, according to BrokerCheck.

$2.2B ex-Snowden Lane team goes independent with Sanctuary

Three advisors who had previously managed $2.2 billion at the hybrid RIA and broker-dealer Snowden Lane are going independent under the name Centel Wealth Advisory.

Founders Stephen Fordyce, Robert Bowman and Sam DeGennaro announced this week that they will be running their new practice out of New Haven, Connecticut, with help from Sanctuary Wealth and BNY Pershing. Sanctuary, an independent brokerage and RIA, specializes in providing services to advisory teams that have broken away from other firms. It was working with 120 firms and $42 billion in client assets by the end of the second quarter, according to its website.

Pershing meanwhile is one of the largest firms offering custodial services to wealth management firms. It holds more than $40 trillion in assets for safekeeping.

The founders of Centel said in a press release that their new firm Centel will work with both private and institutional clients. It will offer financial planning, customized portfolios and multigenerational wealth protection to both individual customers and families. It also plans to work with foundations, endowments and corporations.

Fordyce has 31 years of industry experience and joined Snowden in 2013 after 20 years at Merrill. Bowman has eight years of experience, all of them with Snowden. And DeGennaro has 29 years in the industry and joined Snowden in 2016 after stints at Merrill and Smith Barney.

LPL brings overs $655M team from Osaic

LPL Financial has recruited a 12-member team called the Bury Financial Group from its rival firm Osaic.

The Bury Group, out of Youngstown, Ohio, had $655 million under management at Osaic, according to a press release from LPL. The practice was founded by president and managing partner Todd Bury in 1992 and had been with Osaic and its subsidiary, SagePoint Financial, since 2008. SagePoint is one of eight independent brokerages under the Osaic umbrella that are to be consolidated under one brand by 2025.

After running his practice for years on his own, Bury brought on his current vice president and managing partner Brian Laraway. The Bury Group now also includes partners David Maxwell, Gregory Gett and Kelcie Schiraldi, as well as advisors Nicholas Romeo and Sarah Bury. They are supported by Kelly Frammartino, vice president of operations; Bill Nock and Alexander Baker, both paraplanners; and Jocelyn Palowitz and Amanda Peffer, members of a client services team.

The Bury Group is among several teams LPL has snagged from Osaic over the past year. In July, it brought over a 22-member team called the Investment Advisors Financial Group that had formerly managed $1 billion for Osaic in Eatontown, New Jersey. And in August, LPL announced it had recruited two teams previously managing roughly $4 billion for Osaic.

JPMorgan picks up advisor managing $600M from Bernstein

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management has brought on board an advisor who formerly managed $600 million in client assets for Bernstein Private Wealth Management.

Michael Lopes, who joined Bernstein in 2014, will work in JPMorgan's Washington, D.C., offices as a wealth partner. Lopes specializes in providing wealth management to entrepreneurs and business owners, according to a JPMorgan press release.

Lopes will work under Kim Bonanni, a market director overseeing the firm's brokerage units in New Jersey and suburban New York. Both of them will be under Rick Penafiel, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management regional director for the northeast.

Joining Lopes at JPMorgan is Braxton Ranshaw, a client service associate with two years of industry experience.

Expansions: LPL opens office in Tempe, Arizona

LPL Financial has opened a 43,000-square-foot office in Tempe, Arizona, extending its reach in the southwest U.S.

LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer on Financial Planning's IBD Elite list, plans to have 300 employees working at the new location by the end of the year. The new office, in the Marina Heights business and retail district, "will be a dedicated workplace for LPL teams that support client service and operations," according to a press release.

LPL said it plans to bring 700 jobs in the next two years for people looking for work in financial services. LPL works with more than 23,000 financial advisors and roughly 580 registered investment advisor firms, according to the release.