SunTrust grabs 2 former Deutsche Bank advisers for HNW business

SunTrust Private Wealth Management has hired a three-person brokerage team in Atlanta with more than $200 million in assets under management, according to the bank's public relations firm.

Todd Ryman and Will Rhodes joined as private financial advisers. Both were formerly with the wealth management division of Deutsche Bank, which was acquired by Raymond James last year and renamed Alex. Brown.

Ryman worked at Deutsche Bank Securities and Raymond James for almost six years, while Rhodes worked at the two institutions for more than a decade, according to FINRA records.

Ryman comes aboard with two pending client complaints, BrokerCheck records show. One complaint — filed late last year – claims that Ryman sold the client an unsuitable private equity fund. The other had to do with documentation issues. The clients are looking for a total of $550,000 in damages.

SunTrust declined to comment on the complaints. Ryman did not return an email message seeking comment.

The third hire, Luke Bennett, joined as a financial consultant. He was formerly at Salvus Capital Management, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, for almost a decade. He previously worked at Lehman Brothers, according to FINRA records.

The new additions come less than two months after the bank's CFO, Aleem Gillani, announced that SunTrust would use savings from reductions in its branch network to invest in the hiring of advisers. He noted that in addition to "new advisory personnel within branches," the bank's private wealth management group would be training and hiring new advisers.