People & Company News, Week of June 18, 2026
- John Marshall has joined Carrick Lane as a senior partner. Marshall will focus on strategy and product development to expand the firm’s investment capabilities. Prior to joining Carrick Lane, Marshall spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently served as head of Derivatives Research.
- Ex-Merrill Lynch SVP John Durham has launched Paoli, PA-based Valen Private Capital with his son Benjamin Durham. Valen Private Capital offers investment management, tax solutions, risk management, tax and estate planning, family office services, and philanthropic planning. Durham, who brings over two decades of industry experience, oversaw $477M in total client assets at Merrill. The new firm, launched with support from Sanctuary Wealth, will custody with Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions. Valen Private Capital also includes Lisa Downey, who has worked with the eldest Durham as an assistant at Merrill and joins Valen as its director of operations.
- Barry Frame has been tapped to serve as head of International Private Banking and Wealth Management Services at SEI. Frame will be responsible for SEI’s international private banking and wealth management business, leading commercial strategy and sales execution, deepening key client relationships, and overseeing the delivery of SEI’s enterprise technology and operations services for wealth managers. Prior to joining SEI, Frame most recently served as CCO at Avaloq, a technology firm.
- Manish Nagar has been tapped as chief risk officer and managing director at Vanguard. Nagar currently serves as Vanguard’s head of Business & Operational Risk, overseeing risk governance for the firm’s global client-facing businesses. He will succeed Joe Brennan, who will retire from Vanguard at the end of the year. Nagar will assume his position on January 1, 2027.
- Dave Webster has been named CEO of Jennmar, an infrastructure products provider, succeeding Tony Calandra. Calandra will remain actively involved with Jennmar as a board member and shareholder. Prior to joining Jennmar, Webster previously served as CEO of CPM Holdings, where he led numerous international growth initiatives. Additionally, Jennmar has completed a majority equity investment by KPS Capital Partners. Existing shareholder FalconPoint Partners will retain a minority ownership position in the firm.
- Financial advisor Adam Conish has joined UBS Wealth Management in Philadelphia. Conish manages roughly $1.2B in total client assets and will join UBS’ Mid-Atlantic Market, which is led by market executive Brendan Graham and is part of the firm’s Southeast region, led by regional director Julie Fox. Conish will report to Patricia Cashin, senior market director for the Greater Philadelphia area. Prior to joining UBS, Conish most recently served as a portfolio manager at Glenmede.
- Daniel Farley has been named CIO at U.S. Bank, within its Wealth Management Asset Management Group. Farley will oversee the Asset Management group, leading its investment strategy, guiding portfolio construction, and asset allocation. He will also play a key role in shaping the firm’s investment perspective and will support portfolio strategies. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Farley served as a commercial real estate professional at Dougherty Financial Group.
- Swiss-based Vontobel, an investment management firm, has opened a new office in Los Angeles, California. The office will offer investment expertise and “tailored” solutions. Additionally, the office will serve clients of Vontobel’s Swiss Financial Advisors unit. Vontobel, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, manages about USD $304.6B in assets under management as of December 31, the firm said.
- Simplicity Group Holdings, a financial products distribution firm, has acquired Melbourne, FL-based August H. Velten & Associates, a retail wealth management and annuity producer. Velten & Associates provides wealth management and retirement planning services to high-net-worth clients. As part of the transaction, founder August Velten has become a partner at Simplicity, and the firm will rebrand as Simplicity Wealth Advisors: Melbourne.
- YCharts, an investment research and client engagement platform, has launched Y, a specialized AI agent. The tool operates within the YCharts platform, with direct access to the data, tools, and report format.
- Thoma Bravo, a software-focused investment firm, has acquired Kneat, a digital validation and quality process automation provider, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately C$650M. Under the terms of the acquisition, shareholders will receive C$6.50 cash per share, and following completion of the Transaction, Kneat will become a privately held company.
- Catalyst Power, an energy solutions provider, has closed the financing of a five-site distributed solar portfolio totaling 1,025 kW-DC across Hartford and Trumbull, Connecticut. The portfolio comprises primarily sub-200 kW projects on commercial building rooftops. The Catalyst Power Connecticut Green Bank partnership focuses on improving efficiency through engineering, streamlined diligence, and workflows designed specifically for distributed energy projects. Following the completion, the portfolio is expected to avoid more than 500 metric tons of carbon emissions equivalent each year.
- Edward Jones has expanded its workplace retirement plan offerings, adding new product partners and broadening capabilities, which are aimed at helping business owners and employees improve their financial outcomes. The firm added J.P. Morgan Asset Management and T. Rowe Price to its retirement platform roster, increasing the number of retirement plan product partners to eleven. J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which has partnered with Edward Jones since 2013, expanded its relationship with the firm to include Everyday 401(k) by J.P. Morgan, a full-service recordkeeping solution for startups and small businesses. T. Rowe Price is expected to make its products available to Edward Jones’ advisors later this year. Manulife John Hancock Retirement’s FutureStep platform is now available to all Edward Jones clients, and Capital Group plans to launch its SIMPLE IRA Plus offering for Edward Jones clients next year. Edward Jones has also made Addition Wealth available alongside all retirement plan offerings. To boost its support for business owners, Edward Jones also invested in Brillian through Edward Jones Ventures. Select advisors are currently using the platform, with broader availability planned for early next year.
- Obra Capital, an asset management firm, has closed $403.5M for its fourth Collateralized Loan Obligation. Obra CLO 4 will be managed by Obra CLO Management, operating within the firm’s leveraged finance platform, which is led by Scott Macklin, head of U.S. Leveraged Finance, and CIO Peter Polanskyj. The latest transaction officially brings the alternative asset manager’s total CLO issuance to over $1.75B. J.P. Morgan Securities served as placement agent, and Milbank LLP provided legal representation for Obra.
- Cellares, has raised $50M in its Series D funding for its Prime Radiant Fund SLP SICAV-RAIF, a fund advised by Prime Radiant Partners. The capital will go towards supporting Cellares’ global Smart Factory buildout, including Cellares’ global manufacturing facility, which is currently under construction in Leiden, the Netherlands, and will be GMP-ready in 2027. The recent capital commitment boosts Cellares’ total Series D to $327M.
- Boston-based private equity firm Abry Partners has raised $780M in an oversubscribed continuation vehicle to extend its partnership with Centauri Health Solutions, a healthcare technology company. The funds will be managed by Neuberger Private Markets and Apollo’s Sponsor and Secondary Solutions business. The new continuation fund will go towards supporting Abry’s pursuit of organic and acquisition-backed growth initiatives.
- Anterra Capital, a specialist venture firm investing in food and agriculture, has raised $100M in the first closing round for Fund III, succeeding its targeted goal of $200M. The capital will go towards bolstering life science tools and software that aim to transform food and agriculture and reshape the food industry. Anterra, founded in 2013, manages over $500M in total assets and has offices in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Boston.
- New York-based Fora Financial, a leading financing provider, has raised $130M in the closing of its fourth asset-backed securitization. The proceeds from the 3-year facility will be used to refinance the company’s existing ABS and for general corporate purposes. Fora Financial, founded in 2008, offers financing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses across a diverse range of industries.
