People & Company News, Week of August 21, 2026

Steve Bendt has been appointed as chief marketing officer at YCharts, an investment research and client engagement platform. He will lead YCharts’ global marketing organization and will be responsible for brand, demand generation, and go-to-market strategy across the company’s RIA, enterprise, and asset manager markets. Based in Seattle, Washington, Bendt will report to YCharts’ CEO and president Sean Brown.

Financial advisor Brandon Burleigh has joined UBS Wealth Management’s Hartford, Connecticut office. Burleigh has joined Stone Harbor Group at UBS, a team of five financial advisors. Stone Harbor Group provides wealth management strategies, including financial planning and investment management, to individuals, families, and business owners. The office is managed by Gabriel D’Amica and is part of the Greater New York Metro Market led by Mara Glassel.

Tim Hsu and Chris Todisco have joined H.I.G. Capital’s Capital Formation Group as managing directors. Hsu, based in San Francisco, will lead capital raising for H.I.G.’s global credit platform with a focus on institutional investors on the West Coast, while Todisco, based in New York, will lead the same efforts with a focus on institutional investors on the East Coast. Prior to joining H.I.G. Capital, Hsu led capital formation efforts with institutional investors across the Western region at Oaktree Capital. Before joining H.I.G. Capital, Todisco led fundraising across the credit division, which includes Direct Lending, Asset-Based Lending, Structured Credit, and Broadly Syndicated Loans at Schroders Capital.

Kelly Apple has joined Kestra Financial as head of Wealth Management. Apple will lead Kestra’s organization across both Kestra Financial and its breakaway-advisor channel, Kestra Private Wealth Services. Prior to joining Kestra, Apple most recently served as managing director and head of National Accounts at BlackRock.

Brookwood Investment Group has made several executive leadership appointments. Claire Alexander has been tapped as president. Alexander will oversee operational infrastructure, M&A and transition architecture, and the governance and technology systems. Prior to joining Brookwood, she founded The Arch’s Anvil, an operational consulting firm for independent RIAs. Michael Jones has been named chief growth officer. Jones will lead the firm’s growth initiatives and Orchard, Brookwood’s advisor partnership platform. Jasmine Yu has been appointed as COO. Yu will oversee operational strategy and execution, advisor onboarding and transitions, and coordination across technology, compliance, and operations firmwide. Prior to Brookwood, she served as COO at e3 Wealth. Jeffrey Williams has been appointed as CFO and head of Institutional Operations.

Christopher Grella has joined Prudential Advisors. Grella joins the firm’s NJ Wealth Partners. Grella was previously a vice president at Ameriprise Financial, where he oversaw more than $110M in total client assets.

Dr. Andria van der Merwe has been named managing director of BRG’s Securities & Financial Markets practice and is based in the firm’s office in Chicago. Before joining BRG, Dr. van der Merwe was EVP at Compass Lexecon, an economic consulting firm.

Lesley Bunim has been named managing director of San Francisco-based RIA Baker Street Advisors. Bunim will serve as a lead advisor, guiding multigenerational clients on investment management, financial planning, estate and tax strategy. Prior to joining Baker Street. Bunim served as the co-founder of investment firm Sea Cliff Partners. She has also held senior roles at Whitney Green River Fund, Oaktree Capital Management, and JP Morgan.

Kevin Peterson has joined the Carson Group as SVP of business development for its independent channel. Peterson will help independent advisors evaluate partnership opportunities with Carson while supporting the expansion of the firm’s independent channel. Before joining Carson, Peterson most recently served as SVP of sales at Osaic, where he led the firm’s recruiting organization.

Kenneth Sacco has been tapped as chief financial officer of PACE Loan Group. Sacco will be responsible for the company’s accounting, finance, treasury, and capital markets functions and will report to PLG’s CEO Rafi Golberstein. Prior to joining PLG, Sacco held senior corporate finance and treasury roles at Netflix and Life Time.

Financial advisor Chris Stockton has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer and RIA platform. Stockton was previously affiliated with Edward Jones, where he managed about $160M in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets. Stockton is the founder of Stillwater, OK-based Guidepost Wealth Management and serves high-net-worth business owners, families, retirees, and individuals. Stockton is joined by administrative assistant Ashley Mayfield and selected LPL because of its technology and back-office support.

Lisa Lim has joined Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group as a partner. Lim will also serve as chair of Affordable Housing Transactions and is based at the firm’s office in New York. Prior to joining Akerman, Lim served as general counsel of the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust. She also held positions at Empire State Development, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the New York State Office of the Attorney General, and the New York City Housing Authority.

Aaron Reber has been appointed as president of Wilmington, DE-based Arden Trust Company, a limited purpose trust company. Reber will lead Arden Trust’s growth initiatives and strengthen its service platform. Prior to joining Arden Trust, Reber most recently served as director of Wealth Management Strategy & Solutions at Huntington National Bank.

Michael Novak has been named managing director and relationship manager of Wealth Advisory at Glenmede, a wealth and investment management firm. Novak will provide fiduciary, advisory, and wealth planning guidance to support Glenmede clients and will report to Glenmede’s Ohio regional director Bethany Bryant. Before joining Glenmede, Novak most recently served as SVP and senior fiduciary officer at Northern Trust Corporation.

Playbook, formerly Powder, has launched its AI orchestration platform designed for wealth management firms. The new platform enables RIAs, family offices, and wealth management firms to automate operational workflows, create AI-powered processes, and optimize those workflows. Playbook is also designed to make AI economics more practical for advisory firms. The platform also integrates calendars, CRMs, communication systems, and document repositories.

Alto, an alternative asset investment platform, has launched Alto Private Deal Room, a digital platform that enables RIAs to execute self- and client-sourced private markets deals through a workflow with built-in operational and custodial support. The solution provides infrastructure for RIAs seeking to grow or establish an independent practice. Alto manages the custodial and transactional processes associated with holding private investments in retirement accounts. The Private Deal Room infrastructure allows advisors to manage client assets through retirement accounts, existing alternative investments, or other asset classes.

TAG Advisors’ TAG Invest, the firm’s in-house asset management platform, has surpassed $2B in assets under management. TAG Invest, which was launched in 2022, provides tax-optimized portfolio construction and investment management for advisors affiliated with TAG. TAG Invest is part of TAG’s Enterprise OSJ approach. TAG Invest aims to reach its targeted goal of $3B in assets under management by the end of next year.

Betterment, a wealth and savings platform, has launched Custom Portfolios, a product that allows investors to build a portfolio. Customers are able to personalize one of Betterment’s portfolios or start from scratch.

ABN AMRO Clearing, a financial services solutions provider, has expanded its 24/5 U.S. equity offering to include client access to Bruce Markets. The integration is expected to enhance ABN AMRO’s ability to support trading and provide the firm’s global client base with tools to combat liquidity access challenges. Bruce Markets operates the overnight U.S. equities trading venue Bruce ATS.

Data center developer EdgeMode and BlackBerry Alternative Investment Fund, an investment firm, have merged to form BLACK AI, an AI infrastructure development platform. BLACK AI will focus on AI infrastructure projects across Spain and Panama. The two firms intend to combine EdgeMode’s platform and AI infrastructure portfolio with BlackBerry AIF’s experience in project development, renewable energy, infrastructure, and commercial execution.

Ripple, a cryptocurrency firm, has raised $275M in an upsized private placement of senior unsecured notes through Ripple Prime, its non-bank prime brokerage. The capital will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes as Ripple Prime expands its U.S. clearing, prime brokerage, and financing services.

Dallas-based Broadwing Capital Management, a lower-middle-market private equity firm, has raised $440M in the closing round for Broadwing Capital Fund I, exceeding its targeted goal of $350M. The capital will go towards supporting emerging managers’ hands-on strategy for building lower- middle-market manufacturing and services platforms. The funding will also be used to continue pursuing platform investments and add-on acquisitions.

Invesco Real Estate, the real estate investment platform of Invesco, raised $3.2B in loan commitments in the first half of the year, marking a 112% increase compared to H1. The commitments span 33 floating-rate senior loans across North America and Europe, with multifamily and industrial assets accounting for 93% of volume and increased activity in Europe.

Canyon Partners, an alternative investment manager, has raised $500M in the closing of its Canyon CLO 2026-2. The deal marks Canyon’s third new-issue CLO of the year and its 30th active CLO. Canyon CLO 2026-2 was arranged by SMBC Nikko. It has a 2.2-year non-call period and a 5.2-year reinvestment period and achieved a weighted-average cost of debt of S+157, with a triple-A tranche spread of S+123. The CLO will be managed by Canyon’s affiliate, Canyon CLO Advisors L.P. The transaction brings the firm’s CLO platform to $13B in assets under management across 30 active CLOs.