Giant registered investment advisory firms Cresset and Carson Group hired executives to newly created roles, while RIA investor Emigrant Partners promoted a new CEO.
Talent has emerged as a key area of need among the largest and fastest-growing RIAs, in terms of
"Larger firms tend to have more specialized roles, whether that's in financial planning or investment, operations, marketing, compliance," she said at
Acquiring firms like the three that made the new appointments and Pathstone,
"We use M&A to obviously attract talented people, bring new skill sets to the firm and new capabilities," he said on a panel of RIA buyers held last week by investment bank
Cresset hires Liz Nesvold as president
Multifamily office and private investment firm Cresset has topped $30 billion in client assets following
"When you have 30 years in the business and you take a break, you have the luxury of thinking about what you want to be when you grow up," Nesvold said in an interview. "This RIA industry and I grew up together. For me to step into the industry is about the most exciting next step I could have envisioned."
While she noted that she'll bring her M&A dealmaking skills to the equation as Cresset explores further acquisitions, Nesvold said she expects to focus more in the role on "ensuring that it is a very personalized experience for each client" of the firm. As president, she'll help drive Cresset's strategy alongside co-founders Eric Becker and Avy Stein.
Nesvold's experience will benefit the firm and enable Cresset to "enhance our fully integrated approach," Stein said in a statement. "Liz is one of the most respected and recognized advisors to the wealth management industry and has led the strategy around transformational partnerships and business combinations."
Carson Group appoints SVP of client acquisition
Carson Group and its more than 460 advisors in 190 offices manage $21 billion in client assets on behalf of 46,000 households — a size it has reached through its own acquisitions and recruiting, and
In its first full year, the program delivered 15,000 leads, according to Jamie Hopkins, Carson Group's managing partner of wealth solutions. "We are continuing to focus on scaling our program with high-quality and pre-qualified leads so our advisors can focus their time and energy on what's most important: serving their current clients and adding new ones," Hopkins said in a statement.
In an email interview, Abboud-Smith said her tenures aiding the growth of Vanguard's digital and remote advisor channel, Personal Advisor Services, and learning frameworks and systems for approaching challenges at Amazon will be especially applicable to her position. The Carson Group job "offered a great blend of right fit for my expertise, right scale for my professional goals and right autonomy for me personally," Abboud-Smith said.
"Even though my function is 'Client Acquisition' the why of my role is so that we can help our advisors grow their business," she said. "My team exists to help connect advisors with engaged high-quality prospects. And that isn't just words on the wall — our goals and measurement are all based on the combination of scale and output — so we succeed only when we are successfully helping our partners convert new clients."
Emigrant Partners picks new CEO
Souza took over the role on May 1 after the prior CEO of five years, Karl Heckenberg, announced in a statement last month that he had "decided to take some time and consider what I'd like to do in the next stage of my career." Billionaire real estate mogul Howard Milstein is the chairman of Emigrant Partners' parent firm, Emigrant Bank, which describes itself as the largest family-owned and -operated bank in the country. Emigrant Partners has purchased non-voting, minority stakes in 20 RIAs overseeing more than $100 billion in client assets.
The firms seek out Emigrant for "flexibility on capital" for their recruiting and acquisitions, as well as being "a strategic advice partner," Souza said in an interview.
"Our firms are looking for a partner who is going to really allow the leadership teams to continue to execute on the vision that they have for their business," she said. "That autonomy is often a critical factor in the decision-making process."
She joined Emigrant Partners as a managing director in May 2019 after prior roles in senior leadership at asset management company BrightSphere Investment Group and tenures with BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Canaccord Adams and Berkshire Capital Corporation.
"Jenny has established a strong track record for our business over the past four years, and we are delighted she's taking on this expanded role," Milstein said in a statement. "Emigrant Partners is an important part of our business, and I continue to see great opportunities to invest in the continued growth of the platform."
