People and Company News, Week of December 13, 2024
- Brian Mora was named SVP of experienced advisor recruiting by Ameriprise Financial. Mora has more than 20 years with Ameriprise, most recently as regional VP in the central region of the firm’s branch channel. In his new role, he will lead a team of recruiters and field leaders responsible for bringing quality experienced advisors from across the industry to Ameriprise. Mora will report to Pat O’Connell, president and EVP of the Ameriprise Branch & Institutions Groups.
- Arik Rashkes was appointed as a partner and group head by Solomon Partners, a financial advisory firm and independent affiliate of Natixis. He be responsible for leading and building out a broader coverage effort within the Financial Institutions sector. With the addition of the Financial Institutions Group, Solomon now operates 12 industry groups with over 30 discreet sub-segments. He joins from Houlihan Lokey, where he served as co-head of US financial services and head of insurance. His previous experience includes positions at Blackstone Advisory Partners and Deutsche Bank in the Financial Institutions Group.
- Joanna Rotenberg was hired as a managing director by Vanguard to lead the firm’s establishment of a new advice & wealth Management division. Rotenberg most recently served as president of personal investing at Fidelity. Previously, she spent over a decade at BMO Financial Group as a member of the bank’s executive committee and served as a partner at McKinsey & Company serving clients in wealth and asset management.
- David Navarro was hired as SVP, Southern Nevada commercial banking market leader by Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Columbia Banking System, Inc. Navarro is responsible for expanding Umpqua Bank’s regional presence to support midsize companies with annual revenues between $10M and $1B. He started his career at a regional bank and has worked for some of the largest banks in the country, holding a variety of positions and leadership roles.
- Erin Wood was hired as SVP of advanced planning by AssetMark, Inc., a wealth management and tech solutions provider for financial advisors. AssetMark’s advanced planning offering focuses on estate planning, tax efficiency, retirement planning, and multi-generational wealth transfer strategies. She previously held senior leadership positions at the Carson Group and First National Bank of Omaha.
- Merit Financial Advisors and female-owned Trinity Financial Partners have merged, marking Merit’s third office in Pennsylvania and increasing the firm’s assets by $603M to $11.8B. This is Merit’s 29th partnership since taking a minority investment in December 2020 from Wealth Partners Capital Group and a group of strategic investors led by HGGC’s Aspire Holdings platform. Trinity’s Robyn E. Jameson will be managing director, partner, and wealth manager at Merit.
- Pontera, a fintech company, has formed a partnership with Independent Advisor Alliance (IAA). Through Pontera’s platform, IAA’s 140 partner firms can now view, analyze and manage their clients’ 401(k)s and other workplace-sponsored retirement plan accounts.
- MAI Capital Management, a registered investment advisor for high-net-worth individuals and families, has acquired $350 million Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Carmichael Hill has offered retirement planning and financial services since its founding in 1989. Principal, Jim Stewart, became the sole owner of the firm in 2013.
- Recognize, a private equity firm focused on investing in digital services businesses, has made an investment in SDG Corp., a provider of advisory, implementation and managed cybersecurity services focused on identity and access management (IAM), threat and risk. Ajay Gupta, SDG’s founder, will continue to lead the company as CEO.
- Apella Wealth, a financial advisory and wealth management firm serving individuals, families, and businesses, has acquired Topsfield, MA-based RIA Barker Financial Group, Inc. Led by James “Jim” Barker, Barker Financial provides financial planning and wealth management services to individuals and families. This is Apella’s 19th acquisition, and eighth since partnering with Wealth Partners Capital Group, a financial services holding company that invested in Apella in September 2021. The acquisition closed on December 6. As of closing, Apella has $4.72B in assets under management.
- Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, the mid-market focused private equity team at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, have agreed to acquire Prescott’s, a healthcare focused specialty outsourced clinical engineering services provider, from Atlantic Street Capital. MSCP is partnering with the current management team led by CEO Brian Straeb, who will continue to lead the business. The acquisition is MSCP’s fourth investment in the healthcare outsourced services sector. Since 2019, MSCP has invested in Clarity Software Solutions, US HealthConnect and SpendMend.
- SEI acquired LifeYield, a Boston-based, tax-smart tech provider, making SEI the first in the industry to provide real-time, automated unified managed household (UMH) capabilities, bringing automation to the implementation of financial plans across multiple accounts. SEI previously announced a strategic partnership with LifeYield in 2022. SEI manages, advises, or administers approximately $1.6T in assets.
- J.F. Lehman & Company, a mid-market private equity firm focused on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, closed its latest flagship fund, JFL Equity Investors VI, L.P. and affiliated investments vehicles at $2.23 billion. The offering is the largest in the firm’s 33-year history and was oversubscribed relative to its $1.6B target. The new fund increases the firm’s total AUM to $7B.
- Atlas Venture, an early-stage VC biotech firm closed its 14th fund, securing $450M in an oversubscribed raise. With Fund XIV, the firm will continue to found, seed, incubate, and invest in new startups. Atlas has been investing in biotech startups for more than 30 years and has raised eight funds since 2009 across early-stage and opportunity-focused vehicles. The firm has launched 16 new biotech companies in the past two years, and exited businesses including Nimbus’ Tyk2 program, and Versanis Bio, among others.
- TPG Rise Climate led an investment round exceeding $800 million for clean energy developer Intersect Power, with participation from Google, Climate Adaptive Infrastructure and Greenbelt Capital Partners. Intersect Power, which develops, owns and operates large-scale grid-tied clean energy resources, received its initial external funding from Climate Adaptive Infrastructure in 2020.
