Commonwealth Financial Network And Rockefeller Capital Management Bring On Billion-Dollar Texas Teams, Cerity Partners Acquires $1.9 Billion Maryland Capital Management And NewEdge Advisors Co-CEO Neil Turner Is Our New Recruiter Of The Month
In addition to covering several recent deals, this edition of the Weekly Recruitment Roundup spotlights our new Recruiter Of The Month as part of a recurring Q&A with a different executive responsible for bringing on top strategic and advisory talent at leading firms.
For our Recruiter Of The Month entry, we speak with Neil Turner, co-Founder and co-CEO of NewEdge Advisors. For this week’s deals, we look at Commonwealth Financial Network recruiting Cedarwood Financial Partners from Edward Jones; Rockefeller Capital Management adding Ladage, Smith, Garcia Wealth Partners; and Cerity Partners acquiring Maryland Capital Management, its third deal so far this month.
1. Commonwealth Financial Network Recruits $1 Billion Cedarwood Financial Partners
Temple, Texas-based Cedarwood Financial Partners joined Commonwealth Financial Network after departing Edward Jones. The nine-person team, which provides advanced financial planning services to individuals and businesses, oversees nearly $1 billion in client assets.
Cedarwood specializes in retirement income and planning strategies, executive benefits and 401(k) plans, as well as managing intricate trusts, estate transfers and other sophisticated client solutions. Commonwealth serves more than 2,000 independent financial advisors who oversaw more than $272.9 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2021.
“We knew we wanted to own our own business. Once we saw that we could have the freedom and the exceptional back-office support in one, we couldn’t unsee it,” Dylan Ripley, Managing Partner at Cedarwood, said in the press release. “From access to more investment options and integrated technology to control over how we serve our clients and charge for those services, Commonwealth was the obvious choice.”
To learn more, view the press release here.
2. Rockefeller Adds $1.4 Billion Ladage, Smith, Garcia Wealth Partners
Austin, Texas-based Ladage, Smith, Garcia Wealth Partners joined the Rockefeller Global Family Office of Rockefeller Capital Management after leaving UBS. Led by Managing Directors and Private Advisors Alex Ladage and Landon Smith, the five-person team has approximately $1.4 billion in assets under management (AUM), according to Forbes.
Rockefeller has 13 private advisor teams in Texas, 40 locations nationwide and an office in London. The firm was founded in 1882 as the family office of John D. Rockefeller. As of Dec. 31, 2022, it oversaw approximately $98 billion in client assets across the Rockefeller Global Family Office, Rockefeller Asset Management and Rockefeller Strategic Advisory.
“As we’ve expanded the reach of Rockefeller across the United States, we see significant opportunity to deliver premium and differentiated wealth management services to clients and prospects in Greater Austin and beyond,” Christopher Dupuy, Co-President of Rockefeller Global Family Office, said in the press release. “Alex, Landon and their team exemplify the quality of top-tier advisors being attracted to Rockefeller as it grows.”
To learn more, view the press release here and the Forbes profile here.
3. Cerity Partners Acquires $1.9 Billion Maryland Capital Management
One week after announcing two mergers that brought in $6.7 billion, Cerity Partners announced another merger, this time with Townson, Maryland-based Maryland Capital Management, a 22-person team overseeing approximately $1.9 billion in AUM.
New York-based Cerity Partners now oversees approximately $62 billion in client assets, according to The DI Wire. Last year, the private equity firm Genstar Capital purchased a controlling position in Cerity Partners from Lightyear Capital, which still has a minority stake in the RIA. Due to its latest merger, Cerity Partners has locations in 14 states.
“In speaking with Cerity Partners, we felt that their platform for financial planning, investments and tax services would certainly help us to better serve our clients’ needs,” Maryland Capital Management President John Blair was reported as saying in a Citywire RIA article. “We were also attracted to Cerity Partners’ culture and structure. We were grateful to have found a group of partners who we thought shared our values and vision.”
To learn more, read the DI Wire article here and the Citywire RIA article here.
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Recruiter Of The Month
Neil Turner, Co-Founder And Co-CEO, NewEdge Advisors
NewEdge Advisors is a New Orleans-based RIA with more than 265 affiliated advisors managing a total of approximately $16.8 billion in client assets. Neil Turner co-founded the firm with Alex Goss, who also serves as co-Chief Executive Officer. As previously reported, in November NewEdge hired former LPL Financial Executive Vice President Steve Pirigyi as President and appointed Jeff Cutler to the newly created role of Chief Experience Officer (CXO) and Managing Partner.
WSR: How has NewEdge grown through advisor recruitments and/or practice acquisitions over the past year?
Turner: NewEdge Advisors had a record-breaking 2021 with the addition of 37 advisors overseeing $2.5 billion in assets serviced. The past year is on track to be just as strong. We have added more than 40 advisors with a total of more than $4.4 billion in expected AUM.
Our success has been driven in part by our Advisor Succession Program, which allows firms to monetize part of their revenue but maintain the autonomy and control that comes with going into private practice. Each of our M&A deals is meaningful in contributing to NewEdge’s growth and success.
WSR: Why has NewEdge successfully won these advisors and teams?
Turner: Our rapid growth reflects the growing trend of successful advisors looking to take full control of the client experience in a way uniquely afforded by the RIA space. Each of these teams maintains full ownership of their client practice, yet they chose to share an RIA with like-minded peers rather than building one of their own. These advisors all get the margin, freedom and flexibility of an RIA without having to expend the time and resources to run one.
WSR: What has your role been in helping NewEdge to conduct these deals?
Turner: In addition to being the co-Founder and co-Chief Executive Officer of NewEdge Advisors, I’m also the Chief Revenue Officer for NewEdge Capital Group, the parent of NewEdge Advisors. I oversee revenue and growth with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, transitions, retentions and investments.
A big part of my focus was professionalizing our sales process and building out a national BDO team under David Symecko. He has transformed our organization and positioned us to grow at a pace more akin to a national IBD or wirehouse, and the results are proving it.
Chris Latham, Deputy Managing Editor at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at clatham@wealthsolutionsreport.com
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