Raymond James, LPL, 529s, new ETFs, Atria Wealth Solutions, military veterans, Avantax, Stifel and other quick takes

Raymond James hired a new Cleveland, Ohio complex director away from Merrill Lynch, and launched a program to help advisors who are military veterans get masters' degrees while completing their firm training. Several advisor teams went independent, including a group leaving Wells Fargo Advisors to launch a new firm under LPL's Strategic Wealth Services. And Avantax hosted an in-person conference for advisors.

Scroll through to see what happened this week in career moves, M&A and other news from the world of financial advice.

Raymond James
Former Merrill Lynch director Amy Smart left the wirehouse to be complex manager for Cleveland with Raymond James & Associates. The former market executive for Central Minnesota and financial advisor with Merrill now reports to Bill Theis, the mid-American regional director for Raymond James. Along with her spouse Barbara, Smart has relocated to Cleveland, where she’s overseeing the firm’s branches in the metropolitan area. Former complex manager Guy Jardine has returned to his Medina, Ohio-based practice as a full-time advisor. “Like many of my colleagues and financial advisors who have made the move to Raymond James, I was drawn to Raymond James’ culture,” Smart said in a statement. “The firm’s welcoming environment, coupled with the freedom that comes with joining a firm that continues to be deeply rooted in its wealth management focus, is industry renowned.”
Quincy Investment Services, an affiliate of the 35,000-member, Massachusetts-based Quincy Credit Union, launched its wealth management practice in a strategic partnership with Atria Wealth Solutions’ CUSO Financial Services to be its third-party marketing firm. "We've listened to our members, who have been asking for investment services, and are excited to offer them both through our branches and digital channels,” Quincy CEO John Miller said in a statement. “I've partnered with CFS at previous financial institutions and am confident that together, we will deliver top-notch and personalized services that our members deserve.”
Northfield, Vermont-based Norwich University is teaming up with Raymond James and The Veteran Initiative on a program to help advisors qualify to receive academic credit for their training, with a focus on veterans. Representatives completing the firm’s Advisor Mastery Program will be eligible to receive credit for Norwich’s graduate course in portfolio management, with the option of taking one additional online graduate course to get a graduate certificate in investment management and, after that, four more online classes for an MBA degree. Raymond James employee tuition reimbursement and the G.I. Bill cover the costs of the additional classes. “This partnership provides a unique benefit, not only for military veterans interested in financial services, but also for anyone outside of the military who wants to build on the foundation they went through in AMP and pursue their MBA,” Matt Ransom, vice president of new financial advisor development at Raymond James, said in a statement.
LPL Financial Carolinas Campus
Advisors Steve Carlsen and Sathya Chey dropped Wells Fargo Advisors to launch Rolling Hills Estates, California-based Arise Private Wealth through their affiliation with LPL Financial’s Strategic Wealth Services. It’s the ninth breakaway team to use LPL’s dedicated suite of services to go independent with a greater degree of support from the corporate office than in LPL’s traditional affiliation models. The practice managed $580 million with their prior firm, and the two advisors first joined their practices together in 2018. “We weren’t born into the most ideal circumstances that would traditionally breed success; however, we know firsthand that discipline, perseverance and an unwavering commitment to ‘arise’ and create a new life, is possible,” Chey said in a statement.
Tax professional-focused firm Avantax Wealth Management hosted nearly 1,000 financial advisors and other staff members for an in-person conference over three days earlier this month at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas. After a proxy fight that ended in defeat for an activist shareholder, the theme was “One Avantax," with leaders painting the picture for the future of the company, according to the firm. “It was energizing to see in person so many Financial Professionals who have spent the last 18 months guiding clients through one of the most challenging and uncertain environments imaginable,” Avantax President Todd Mackay said in a statement. “Our attendees represent the fabric of the Avantax Family, and they dedicated time to attend our conference with the goal of learning and collaborating in order to share ideas to provide even better service to their clients.”
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Nationwide Retirement Solutions picked up a client in the defined contributions marketplace, with Indiana’s public employees choosing the firm as their provider of 457 and 401(a) plans. The four-year contract that goes into effect next spring spans $1.7 billion in assets under management and more than 59,000 participants. The contract includes an option to renew for an additional four years. Nationwide Retirement currently works with 2.5 million participants from 25,000 retirement plans. “We’re proud to be chosen to help support their employees in their journey to prepare for retirement and look forward to providing the first-class service that our plans expect from us,” Scott Ramey, senior vice president of retirement solutions distribution for Nationwide, said in a statement.
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Financial advisor Brandon Chase went independent with LPL Financial through affiliated hybrid RIA and office of supervisory jurisdiction Global Retirement Partners, an enterprise within HUB Retirement and Wealth Management. Chase’s Fort Worth, Texas-based practice managed $125 million in client assets with his prior firm, Raymond James & Associates.
Eight financial advisors picked Raymond James Financial Services over LPL Financial after it reached a deal to acquire their prior broker-dealer, Waddell & Reed. Clay Center and Manhattan, Kansas-based advisors Ross McDonald, Anthony Gorman, Ryan Hayden, Diane Freeby, Mathew Bishop, Devin Schwartz, Dillon Kohman and Kurt Haberer managed $300 million in client assets with their prior firm. They chose to join an existing Raymond James affiliate called Beyond Wealth Advisors. “Our decision was based on our shared approach to client service and firm values that align with ours,” Hayden said in a statement. “The relational leadership of Beyond Wealth and the excellence in processing and support at Raymond James were also refreshing.”
Assets under management in 529 plans have topped $400 billion for the first time, according to a report by AKF Consulting Group. AUM jumped 15% in 2020 to $421 billion, while the number of accounts expanded by 600,000 to 14.7 million. “Despite financial uncertainty triggered by the pandemic, participants have kept their children’s financial futures in focus and increased their reliance on 529 Plans,” AKF Managing Director Andrea Feirstein said in a statement.
LPL Financial San Diego Tower
LPL Financial gave advisors more flexibility in its main centrally managed advisory platform, Model Wealth Portfolio, through an update enabling planners to combine more than one model. Through the risk-scoring methodology of a firm LPL acquired in 2018, AdvisoryWorld, the platform gives advisors the ability to mix different strategies, as long as they align together with the clients’ investment objectives. “MWP’s newest enhancement allows advisors to take the next step in running their models-based practices, furthering their efficiency and ability to grow at scale,” Rob Pettman, LPL’s executive vice president of wealth management solutions, said in a statement. “They now have more flexibility to create portfolios that are both easier to build and more tailored to their clients’ needs.”
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Stifel Financial grabbed two former Wells Fargo Advisors teams that managed more than $1 billion in combined client assets with their prior firm. Financial advisors John Ridley and Derek Hull joined Stifel in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and their team previously managed $600 million with Wells Fargo. In Ferndale, California, Laura Hussey brought a practice that managed $435 million with Wells Fargo to a new branch where she’s the manager. “Laura and I have known each other for years,” John Lee, Stifel’s director of the Western Region, said in a statement. “She is smart, successful, and does an excellent job taking care of her clients’ needs.”
Advisor Ross Gerber is serving as portfolio manager of the first ETF launched by Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF. The actively managed product will focus on the firm’s top investment picks, which currently revolve around climate change, technology, video games, esports, consumer brands, pet wellness, healthcare, biotechnology, real estate, streaming entertainment, sports betting and cannabis, according to the firm. As a hybrid RIA and office of supervisory jurisdiction with LPL Financial, the Santa Monica, California-based firm’s client assets have grown to $2 billion from only $175 million just nine years ago. For the ETF, Gerber plans to host monthly Zoom calls in order to listen to and, potentially, implement ideas from investors and analysts. "Even as a large percentage of investors crave exposure to individual companies delivering transformational products and services across the globe, many of the current ETFs have a mindset rooted in the past, demonstrating what we believe is a limited understanding of how to capture the growth opportunities of tomorrow,” Gerber said in a statement. “Thanks to our approach and collective vision, this ETF will be much different."
Advisor Graham Marshall left Raymond James’ corporate RIA team to join WealthSource, a $1.7 billion RIA, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. WealthSource said it plans to bring more advisors on board in coming weeks. The firm bills itself as “an attractive landing spot for growth-minded advisors who want to grow their practice on their own terms,” and provides end-to-end practice management support, advisor coaching and a full transition team.
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UBS announced the return of its annual Future of Finance Challenge, a competition for fintech startups developing disruptive products and solutions for investing, app stores and platforms, cybersecurity and sustainable banking. Each winner will receive $10,000 in cash. This year, UBS is hoping to encourage more participation from women with a new “Female Founder” award for companies with a female founder or executive board member.
Riskalyze added a new feature to help broker-dealers and compliance teams meet new best interest standards coming from regulators. For clients looking to rollover a retirement account, Riskalyze’s Best Interest Proposal Assessment (BIPA) will help advisors propose portfolios that best match the client’s needs, document the source of funds and complete an assessment showing the advisor acted in the client’s best interest. BIPA will archive proposals and rollover assessments to be easily delivered to regulators. The new feature is available to larger wealth management firms using Riskalyze’s product tiers: Enterprise Select and Enterprise Elite.
CircleBlack released a significant update to its all-in-one wealth management software that makes data more accessible and adds new features for advisors. The upgrade includes a new user interface and the ability to customize dashboards and workflows based on individual needs, such as an advisor who only needs household-level data versus a manager who needs to see information about the entire firm. “[Advisors] wanted the ability to view more data on one screen, and the option to customize more features — so that’s what we gave them,” says Sarah Rasmuss, chief product officer at CircleBlack. “It’s faster, more logical, more relevant, and highly efficient.”
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