People & Company News, Week of September 5, 2025
- Wealth management executive Bob Oros has been appointed as VP of PPB Capital Partners’ board of directors. PPB Capital Partners is an alternative investment solutions provider for private wealth management firms. Oros, who brings over 25 years of financial services leadership experience, was previously chairman and CEO of Hightower Advisors. Prior to joining Hightower, Oros held senior executive roles at Avantax, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, and LPL Financial.
- Neil Kaufman has been tapped to serve as chief administrative officer for Slate Asset Management, an alternative assets platform. Kaufman will be based in the firm’s New York office and report directly to Slate Asset Management’s co-founding partners, Blair Welch and Brady Welch. Kaufman will oversee Slate’s global human resources function, organizational development, and operational and administrative systems and procedures. Prior to joining Slate, Kaufman served as global director of human resources and assistant general counsel at Soros Fund Management, where he led the firm’s human resources function. Kaufman also spent nearly 15 years at Goldman Sachs, where he served as the head of legal and regulatory, and human capital management divisions within the firm’s prime services hedge fund consulting team.
- Industry executives Heather Zack, Lisa VanArsdale, David Haughton, and Liam Heffernan, have joined Carson Group, as the firm is looking to bolster its offerings across private client services, advisor development, estate planning, and mergers & acquisitions. Zack joined Carson Group as SVP of private client services and solutions strategist. Zack was previously a director at Commonwealth Financial Network. VanArsdale serves as VP of advisor development at Carson Group. Prior to joining Carson, VanArsdale was a financial advisor at LPL Financial and co-founder of Lakeview Wealth Management, which managed about $500 million in client assets before it was acquired by SageView Advisory Group in 2022. Haughton serves as the VP of estate planning and was previously the senior corporate counsel for Wealth.com. Heffernan will serve as the VP of mergers and acquisitions sales, and most recently served as director of corporate development at SageView Advisory Group. At SageView, he played a key role in more than $30 billion in wealth and retirement plan acquisitions.
- Financial advisor Michael Cullen and his advisory team have joined IronBridge Wealth Counsel, a financial advisory firm, as the firm seeks to increase its presence in the Bay Area. San Francisco-based Cullen Financial Advisors, which manages $2.5 billion in assets under advisement, provides financial planning, wealth management, retirement planning, estate and tax planning, and insurance plans to high-net-worth individuals, families, and pre-retirees across 14 states.
- Wealth management executive Tim Semke has joined Kestra Private Wealth Services, a subsidiary of Kestra Financial, in partnership with Pennsylvania-based Kindred Wealth Partners, a wealth management firm affiliated with Kestra PWS. Semke, who brings over 20 years of industry experience and $185 million in client assets under management to Kindred, specializes in “complex” financial planning and tax planning. Semke joined Kindred and Kestra PWS because of its “personalized” support and its technology and resources.
- Jason Crane has been named SVP and president of the retirement plan services division at Lincoln Financial. In his role, Crane will oversee all strategy and execution for Lincoln’s RPS business and will report directly to Lincoln Financial’s EVP and president of Lincoln’s workplace solutions division Jimmy Reid. Crane will also be a member of Lincoln’s corporate leadership group. Crane replaces Ralph Ferraro, Lincoln’s previous president of the RPS division, who is retiring from Lincoln at the end of September. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial, Crane was head of core retirement at Ascensus, where he led the company’s retirement distribution organization.
- Financial planning professional Ed Callahan has joined Prime Capital Financial as the firm is expanding its Northeast presence. Callahan, who brings over 15 years of experience to Prime Capital Financial has played a key role in providing “tailored” services to high-net-worth clients. Before joining the firm, Callahan served as director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.
- Josh Baumgarten has been appointed as president and CIO of Beach Point Capital Management, an alternative asset management firm. Additionally, Eric Storch has been tapped as global head of client Partnerships and business development at the firm. In the newly created role, Baumgarten, who brings over 25 years of industry experience, will join Beach Point’s executive committee and work closely with the senior leadership team to drive corporate and investment strategy across private credit, liquid credit & CLOs, multi-asset credit, and structured credit & asset-backed finance. Prior to joining Beach Point, Baumgarten was the co-managing partner and head of credit at TPG Angelo Gordon. In his role, Storch will lead the firm’s investor relations, capital formation, and product development efforts. Before joining Beach Point Capital, Storch previously served as managing director at Oak Hill Advisors, where he led the firm’s business development, client coverage, and marketing activities.
- Brett Mitstifer has been tapped to serve as the EVP and CIO of Flagstar Bank’s private banking and wealth management division. Mitstifer, who brings over 30 years of experience to Flagstar Bank, will be reporting to EVP and head of private banking and wealth management Mark Pittsey and will be based in the firm’s New York office. In his role, Mitstifer will be responsible for leading the development of investment strategies and expanding the product suite to deliver “tailored” solutions for clients. Prior to joining Flagstar Bank, Mitstifer served as CIO and regional head of investment management at HSBC Private Bank. He also held roles at Value Line Asset Management and Hovey, Youngman & Associates.
- Industry executives Barnaby Grist, Kate Shackleton, John Vaccaro, and Christine Leong Connors have been appointed to serve on the advisory board of Wealth.com, an estate planning platform targeted towards financial advisors. Grist was the former president of Cetera Financial Group, Shackleton was the former EVP of LPL Financial and head of trust and insurance, Vaccaro was previously an executive at MassMutual and governor of FINRA, and Connors is the co-founder and CEO of Verita Strategic Wealth Partners and former president of EPIQ and executive at JP Morgan.
- Fintech firm Pontera and John Hancock Retirement, a division of Manulife Investment Management, have partnered to provide “personalized” management for workplace retirement accounts, including 401(k) accounts, for individuals with held-away accounts. Customers will also be allowed to choose the financial advisor they would like to work with for their managed retirement accounts.
- Mercer Global Advisors has added Bend, OR-based Eagle Wealth Management, which oversees $350 million in assets under management. Eagle Wealth Management, founded in 2008, is led by husband-and-wife duo Chad and Cami Staskal and offers “holistic” financial planning, accounting, and tax services. Eagle Wealth’s 10-person team will gain access to Mercer Advisors’ resources and infrastructure, as the RIA seeks to “enhance” the client experience and provide a “strong” foundation for its growth. Hue Capital Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to Eagle Wealth Management.
- Marsh McLennan Agency, a provider of insurance services and a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh, has acquired Nashville-based Robins Insurance, an insurance agency. Following the acquisition, all Robins Insurance employees, including its CEO Van Robins, will continue working out of their existing Nashville office. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
- Pierview Capital, a private investment firm with a focus on energy and infrastructure, has launched. The firm will focus on identifying investment opportunities in the distributed energy sector, including distributed power, distributed natural gas, and supporting midstream infrastructure systems. The firm was founded by CEO and managing partner Jake Field and CIO and managing partner James Wang. Pierview Capital seeks to partner with proven management teams and platforms across North America and other key markets, supporting growth through capital, operational expertise, and strategic relationships. The firm plans to target opportunities across multiple segments of distributed energy, including distributed power, distributed gas and small-scale midstream infrastructure.
- SEI has launched its SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF, which comes after the reorganization of its SIMT Liquid Alternative Fund to an ETF. The SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF will adopt the same integration as the mutual fund. The SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF seeks long-term capital growth by replicating the return profile of a model portfolio of alternative strategies, which mainly consists of hedge funds. The ETF will continue to be managed by SEI and sub-advised by Dynamic Beta Investment, an asset manager with a focus on hedge fund replication strategies.
- RISR, a fintech platform, has launched its enhanced platform, which offers financial planning-focused Succession & Exit Planning capabilities, along with enhanced wealth planning, valuation, and risk insights. The platform enables financial advisors to assess a client’s exit goals, ideal timeline, readiness, and “preferred” paths. All existing users on the platform will receive the upgrade automatically, with no changes to pricing or onboarding requirements.
- WealthFeed, a wealthtech firm, and Anasova, owner of FreeFinancialPlan.com and AIFinancialPlanning.com, have integrated its capabilities into Anasova’s sales and marketing marketplace. Anasova was founded by Tom Anderson, a former executive director at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. The partnership between Anasova and WealthFeed emphasizes both companies’ commitment to providing enterprise-grade client data protection.
- Wichita-based Equity Bancshares, a holding company of Equity Bank, has merged with Frontier Holdings, the parent company of Omaha, NE-based Frontier Bank. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Frontier Bank will add seven locations to Equity’s franchise and will mark Equity’s presence in Nebraska. Additionally, Frontier will receive approximately 75% of its consideration in Equity Bank’s stock and the balance in cash, which is subject to customary regulatory and member approvals and closing conditions. The merger is set to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Equity Bancshares was advised by Stephens Inc. and received a fairness opinion from Janney Montgomery Scott, and Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP served as legal counsel to Equity. Frontier was advised by D.A. Davidson. Fenimore Kay Harrison LLP served as legal counsel to Frontier.
- SS&C and U.K.-based The Private Office, a financial planning firm, have extended its services through SS&C’s platform Hubwise. SS&C will provide support to The Private Office’s digital wealth management platform, along with customer service, dealing, custody, settlement services, and client assets source book regulatory support.
- Catalyze, a renewable energy developer, has secured $200 million for its three-year HoldCo revolving and term debt and letter of credit facility from Deutsche Bank. The facility will bolster Catalyze’s capital capacity and fuel its expansion. The facility enables Catalyze to scale its platform by supporting acquisitions, financing pre-notice to proceed development, and accelerating project deployments across its national footprint.
- Boston-based RIA New England Private Wealth Advisors has acquired Portsmouth, NH-based DHK Financial Advisors, which manages about $1.6 billion in client assets. DHK Financial Advisors, founded in 1993, provides investment advisory services to high-net-worth individuals and families, charitable organizations, associations, endowments, foundations, and retirement plans.
- Atlas Resolution Partners, a financial advisory and asset management firm specializing in providing services to private capital funds and their stakeholders, has launched. Atlas Resolution Partners was co-founded by Kenneth Latz and Michael Cavanaugh. Atlas aims to offer a broad range of advisory and asset management services to private capital funds, including their limited partners, general partners, and portfolio companies, across portfolio company solutions, fund solutions, and dispute resolution solutions.
- Peak Rock Capital, a middle-market private investment firm, raised $3 billion in the final round of two funds, Peak Rock Capital Fund IV LP and Peak Rock Capital Credit Fund III LP. Peak Rock Capital Fund IV LP exceeded the firm’s targeted goal of $2 billion and closed at the $2.5 billion hard cap. The funding will focus on family and founder-owned businesses within the technology, industrial, consumer, and healthcare sectors. Peak Rock Capital also raised $500 million for its third credit fund, dubbed Credit Fund III and related investment vehicles. The commitment success comes after the firm’s third private equity fund, whose funding reached its $2 billion cap in April 2021. Kevin Wessel and Jeff Kaplan from Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel in the formation of the Fund.
- Benefit Street Partners, a credit-focused alternative asset manager and Franklin Templeton subsidiary, has closed $2.3 billion in funding for its private credit continuation vehicle, BSP Debt Fund IV CV, which was led by Coller Capital. The BSP Debt Fund IV CV was established as a continuation of a portfolio of diversified senior secured, floating-rate loans from its 2016 vintage flagship fund. Jefferies served as financial adviser on the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel for Benefit Street Partners. Cleary Gottlieb Steen &Hamilton LLP acted as legal counsel for Coller Capital. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan financed the transaction.
- Advisor.com, a financial planning technology platform, has secured $9 million in its latest seed funding round, which was led by Walkabout Ventures, with participation from Long Ridge Private Equity Partners’ founder and managing partner Jim Brown. The capital will allow Advisor.com to further address the growing number of investors who aren’t being adequately served by current market offerings. Advisor.com will leverage the investment to grow its marketplace by accelerating customer acquisition, enhancing its AI-powered advisor-matching technology, and expanding its network of advisors.