Honoring Top CFOs, Latest Recruitment News, How To Help Laid Off Clients, A $15 Billion BD Sale, Previewing Morningstar’s Conference, A Fixed Income Fund Soars And More
To My Fellow WSR Community Members:
This week we honor the top CFOs in wealth management, an elite group that commands the respect of professionals and executives across the industry. With high volumes of M&A, active recruitment of advisors, rapid change across technology, client expectations and regulation, and the life savings of tens of millions of clients in the balance, CFOs hold a crucial role in wealth management.
The CFOs we honor today have managed formidable projects, maintained impeccable organizational finances and earned recognition across the industry. However, as a CPA myself, I found a particular fact striking – compared both to the number of women CPAs, which Zippia reports as 56.8%, and the percentage of women in wealth management, we found relatively few women CFOs.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this and invite you, our community, to initiate discussions and create solutions.
This week, we also bring you the latest Weekly Recruitment Roundup, expert advice on how to guide clients through layoffs, the latest installment of our bizarre industry news roundup, the sale of a $15 billion broker-dealer, a preview of the Morningstar Investment Conference, the latest quarterly RIA M&A analysis, poaching a Chief Legal Officer and a fixed income fund reaching the top.
This Week’s Issue
Here’s what we have on tap this week:
- Who are the top CFOs in wealth management? In Upmarket, we recognize Nancy Andrefsky, Founding Partner and CFO of Stratos Wealth Partners; Nick Engelbart, CFO of Carson Group; Joe Faber, CFO of Steward Partners Global Advisory; Suzanne van Staveren, EVP, CFO and COO of Edelman Financial Engines; and David Vaughan, CFO at Sanctuary Wealth Management, as our inaugural CFO 5 – Top Wealth Management CFOs.
- Also in Upmarket, we preview the Morningstar Investment Conference that will be held this week in Chicago from April 25 to April 27. Chris Latham, WSR’s Deputy Managing Editor, is attending the event. Meanwhile, this preview captures insights from Caroline Decamp, Senior Director of Experiential Marketing at Morningstar; Abby Salameh, Chief Marketing Officer at CAIS; and Stephen Chen, CEO and Founder at NewRetirement; about what they aim to get out of the conference.
- Meet our newest Recruiter of the Month. In Newsmakers & Roundups, we speak with Tim Stewart, Vice President, Business Development at Avantax Wealth Management. For this week’s deals, we look at Commonwealth Financial Network recruiting KMJ Financial Group, Advisor Group recruiting Silverberg Wealth Management, LPL Financial becoming custodian and broker-dealer for CG Advisor Network, Carson Wealth acquiring Integrated Wealth and Modern Wealth Management acquiring Barber Financial Group.
- Recession fears are stirring, and layoffs are accelerating. Also in Upmarket, we discuss how advisors guide clients emotionally and financially, as well as opportunities for prospecting during layoffs. Discover insights from Amy Braun-Bostich, Founder and CEO of Braun-Bostich & Associates; Paul Peeler, Founder of The Preparedness Project; Todd A. Scorzafava, Founding Partner and Portfolio Manager of WealthScorz Financial Group; Steve Branton, SVP and Advisor at Wealthspire Advisors; and Morgan Veth, VP and Financial Advisor at Bogart Wealth.
- What are the strangest happenings in wealth management? In our latest installment of Bizarre Industry Bazaar, our James Miller muses on anxiety as he relates the latest unusual tales in the financial services media, including Ross Gerber’s investment in a YouTuber’s startup, Goldman Sachs says “don’t go nuclear,” Steve Bannon’s wealthy associate arrested, an alleged fraud against NBA players and the plague that is mobile phone apps.
- RIA M&A declined and 2023 looks volatile. In Capital Connections, DeVoe & Company released its latest quarterly RIA Deal Book, revealing a decline and plateauing of RIA M&A in the first quarter of 2023. The report discusses drivers for the decline, how interest rates are hindering consolidators, why midsize sellers plunged and the firm’s outlook for 2023 and beyond.
- Sanctuary Wealth poached its Chief Legal Officer from Carson Group. In Newsmakers and Roundups, the firm announced the appointment of Kevin J. Miller as Chief Legal Officer and reappointment of Kevin P. Chase as Chief Compliance Officer as it continues to build out its management team under the leadership of new CEO Adam Malamed.
In case you missed it, last week we brought you:
- An ETF to watch? In Newsmakers & Roundups, Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based RIA Sound Income Strategies announced that its Sound Enhanced Fixed Income ETF (FXED) ranked in Morningstar’s top 1% for the first quarter of 2023 among 131 similar funds based on total returns as of March 31. The actively managed ETF’s total return was 4.33% and its annual dividend yield was 5.55% net of fees and fund expenses.
- $15 billion acquisition and no repapering? In Capital Connections, Atria Wealth Solutions announced that it will acquire Grove Point, serving approximately 400 professionals with $15 billion in assets, from Kestra Holdings, and no client repapering is required. Doug Ketterer, CEO & Founding Partner of Atria, James Poer, CEO of Kestra Holdings, and Michelle Barry, President of Grove Point, comment. Jeff Nash, CEO of Bridgemark Strategies and Michael Terrana, CEO of Terrana Group, provide expert third-party views.
Send us your comments, suggestions and thoughts, especially regarding the gap in the number of women CFOs and how our industry can solve it!
We connect with more of you every week on social media, especially LinkedIn, and we engage with our community every day there. Come join the conversation!
Have a great week!
Cheers!
Larry Roth
CEO
Wealth Solutions Report
