People & Company News, Week of July 17, 2026
- Wealth executives Gaurav Mallik and Shelly Kapoor have been named CIO and COO, respectively, of Modera Wealth Management. Gaurav, based in Boston, will lead the firm’s investment strategy, portfolio allocation, investment solutions, and governance framework. Gaurav succeeds George Padula, who will be retiring from Modera at the end of the year. Before joining Modera, Gaurav most recently served as managing partner of Fiducia Advisors. Shelly, who will be based in Westwood, NJ, succeeds Harli Palme, who recently transitioned to a new role as Modera’s director of Learning and Development. Prior to joining Modera, Shelly most recently managed business integrations at Coldstream.
- William Peng has been named the first chief innovation officer of Mega-RIA Cerity Partners. Peng will be responsible for launching company-wide strategies for Cerity Partners’ service model, integrating artificial intelligence to build scalable workflows and capabilities, and bolstering the firm’s “CP Way” model across advisors and clients. Prior to joining Cerity Partners, Peng served as the CEO and founder of Northstar, a fintech firm.
- Financial advisor Brian Lubel has joined LPL Financial’s independence model, LPL Independent Advisor Network, to support his practice, Orlando-based Cypress Point Wealth Partners. Prior to joining LPL, Lubel was affiliated with MML Investors Services, a subsidiary of MassMutual, where he managed $175M in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets. Lubel’s team is supported by an associate financial advisor and two client services specialists.
- Anthony Petrazzuoli has been tapped as SVP and director of Deposit & Payments Operations at New Jersey-based Provident Bank. Petrazzuoli will be responsible for leading the bank’s deposit account operations, payment processing, item processing, reconciliation, ATM operations, and debit card operations. He will also focus on driving operational excellence, supporting regulatory compliance, and advancing initiatives across the bank. Prior to joining Provident Bank, Petrazzuoli served as EVP of the Retail Market Manager at M&T Bank.
- Clay Cowan has been appointed as CEO of IRA Financial, a self-directed retirement platform. Cowan succeeds Tyler Northrup, who has transitioned to the role of president and CIO of the Trust Company. Cowan will be responsible for scaling the platform and expanding access to the platform’s resources. Prior to joining IRA Financial, Cowan most recently served as CMO of IBM. He previously held senior roles at Betterment, McKinsey, Gilt Groupe,
- Financial advisors Kirk Stensrud, James Flaherty, Yale Joseph, and Kenneth Mintz have joined Janney Montgomery Scott’s Radnor, Pennsylvania, office. The advisors are supported by senior private client associate Sindy Young. The advisors joined from Wells Fargo Stensrud Wealth Management Group, where they managed over $630M in combined client assets.
- Boise, ID–based Caprock has acquired Austin-based Venturi Private Wealth, a wealth management firm. Venturi, founded in 2015, provides investment management and financial planning to high-net-worth clients, including entrepreneurs, executives, and multigenerational families. As part of the transaction, Caprock adds 30 employees, including 10 advisors, and expands its footprint with offices in Austin and Oklahoma City. Following the closing of the acquisition, Venturi will operate under Caprock’s branding and platform. Venturi’s CEO and co-founder Russ Norwood and Joey Sager will become managing directors at Caprock.
- RISR, a fintech platform, has partnered with OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners to leverage RISR’s capabilities across its firm. The partnership will enable OnePoint BFG to roll out new planning opportunities and support organic growth across the firm.
- Activest Wealth Management has launched its Family Office Governance program, which is designed to support families, boost decision-making, prepare future generations for leadership, and support family cohesion across generations. The program, developed with family enterprise scholar and advisor Dennis Jaffe, is aimed at integrating family meetings, governance design, multigenerational education, succession planning, and legacy-focused conversations, tailored to the specific circumstances of families. Activest plans to extend the offering to client families.
- Canvas Annuity, an annuities provider, has launched a 10-year Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity. The new 10-year term will debut with an interest rate of 6.3%. The 10-year MYGA is the newest addition to Canvas Annuity’s growing product lineup, which also includes the Forever Fund, an immediate annuity.
- Serent Capital, a private equity growth platform, has raised $1.3B in capital for its Serent Capital VI fund. The firm plans to use the capital to continue supporting portfolio companies through its operational resources, including supporting its growth team, which includes over 25 professionals. Additionally, the firm also plans to use the funding to expand its AI capabilities across portfolio companies and to enhance its product development, customer workflows, sales execution, and operational efficiency. The oversubscribed fund brings Serent’s total capital commitments to over $5B.
