Wells Fargo's indie channel pulls $2.1B team from UBS

Wells Fargo's division for independent advisors has picked up its fourth team with more than $1 billion under management with a 12-person group pulled over from UBS.

Touchstone Wealth Partners, which has offices in Toledo, Ohio, and Bonita Springs, Florida, became registered on Friday with Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, or FiNet, where advisors work as independent contractors rather than direct employees. The team had previously managed $2.1 billion in client assets at UBS.

The team is led by the advisors Kenneth Wise, his sons Mitchel Wise and Kenneth Wise II, Kristie Howe, Michael McCullough, Spencer Stone and Jason (Brad) Tyo. They follow these three other recent big teams with more than $1 billion recruited this year to FiNet:

• Infinity Private Wealth, an 11-person team in Long Island, New York, that had previously managed $1.8 billion at Merrill;
• KBK Wealth Management, a six-advisor team in New York that had previously managed $1.3 billion at Commonwealth Financial Network, which was bought by LPL Financial last year;
• and Snow Pine Private Wealth, a seven-person team in Wayzata, Minnesota, that had managed $1.7 billion at UBS.

UBS, which declined to comment for this article, has struggled with advisor departures since making changes to its broker compensation policies in late 2024. In an earnings call in February, UBS reported its advisor headcount for its Americas unit, which includes Canada and Latin America, had fallen by 3.3% year over year to 5,772.

Wells Fargo has ceased providing public updates of its advisor headcount. The last time the figure was reported, it was around 12,000.

Of Touchstone Wealth Partners, FiNet President John Tyers said, "They will continue to deliver a white glove experience that has defined their practice — supporting complex client needs with the scale of our private wealth capabilities."

Kenneth Wise started his career in 1986 at Prescott, Ball & Turban and moved through several firms before going to Merrill in 2003 and UBS in 2011. Mitchel Wise started at Goldman Sachs in 2015 and joined UBS in 2021 after a few years at Citadel Securities, and Kenneth Wise II started at UBS in 2015. Howe started at Smith Barney in 1999, moved to Merrill in 2003 and then UBS in 2011.

McCullough was at Fifth Third starting in 2002, then Morgan Stanley in 2012 and UBS in 2018. Stone started at Kidder Peabody in 1993 and moved through several firms before joining Morgan Stanley in 2009 and UBS in 2016. And Tyo started at Carillon Investments in 1997 and moved through various firms before going to Morgan Stanley in 2009 and UBS in 2016.

Coming with them to Wells Fargo's FiNet are Chief Investment Officer Brad Dobson, senior client relationship managers Alicia Monday and Meranda Parrish, client relationship manager Jaclyn Seemann and office administrator Heather Patterson.