EP Wealth Advisors, Emigrant Partners, Americana Partners and Captrust announced new hires and a couple of promotions this week, primarily in support of growth initiatives. EP hired a new head of M&A, while Emigrant named three individuals to help “accelerate growth,” Americana Partners brought on a new managing director and Captrust hired a new chief compliance officer.
In earlier news, Focus Financial elevated several existing employees as the firm moves to consolidate more than 90 partner firms.
EP Wealth Advisors Taps Kyle Miller to Lead M&A
EP Wealth Advisors, a Southern California-based RIA managing around $19.5 billion in assets, has hired Kyle Miller as its first M&A executive after completing more than 30 acquisitions in six years.
Formerly vice president of mergers and acquisitions for insurance firm Acrisure, where he led more than 165 deals over eight years, Kyle Miller began his position as a managing director and head of M&A for EP this month. Based in Chicago, he will work closely with private equity partner Wealth Partners Capital Group to find and pursue attractive opportunities in new regions and areas where the firm has a smaller footprint, according to an announcement.
In addition to Miller, Shelly Wright recently joined the firm as director of the project management office. The role was created earlier this year to support the execution of firm initiatives and scaling of services nationally.
EP also announced it expanded Alan Berkshire’s role to chief administrative officer from general counsel and head of legal. In his new position, he will also head up operations, client service and partnership integration.
Emigrant Partners Announces Strategic Hires, Expansion of Advisory, Investment Teams
Emigrant Partners, a bank-owned capital investor in the independent wealth management space, announced a trio of new hires joining its advisory team and investment group.
Mark Bruno, former managing director of wealth management at WealthManagement.com’s parent company Informa, has joined Emigrant as managing director and head of strategic advisory, while Jason Ehrlich has left private equity firm Towerbrook Partners to step into the roles of managing director and head of investments at Emigrant. Sam Grewal, who moved to Emigrant Partners from Emigrant Bank over the summer, has taken on the role of vice president of investments.
The additions are intended to bolster expertise in the wealth and asset management industries, according to the announcement, while extending the firm’s reach within the registered investment advisory space.
All three will work with Emigrant’s 20 partner firms—which manage more than $95 billion in collective assets—to identify organic and inorganic growth opportunities, while finding opportunities to expand the platform. In addition, Bruno is creating and producing a new podcast series, set to debut before the end of the year, highlighting top executives from around the industry.
“Jason and Mark bring a collective knowledge of wealth and asset management that will immediately translate to the continued growth and success of our existing partner firms,” Emigrant Partners President and CEO Jenny Souza said in a statement. “They have unique and incredibly complementary skill sets, combined with deep relationships across the wealth and asset management communities that will help drive a new wave of growth.”
“The concept of being able to provide truly long-term, patient capital to companies that want to remain independent—but are hungry to learn from and grow with a strategic partner like our team—is really unique in our space,” said Bruno. “Personally, I’m hoping to help our partner firms accelerate their organic growth and do it in a way that sets an example and raises the bar for the rest of the RIA industry. The opportunity is huge and we’re just getting started.”
Americana Partners Adds John Carlisle in Dallas
Houston-based Americana Partners announced John Carlisle has joined the firm as managing director in Dallas.
With a 30-year history in brokerage and equity, Carlisle’s career has spanned time with UBS, Morgan Stanley and, most recently, Jeffries, where he was regional head in the Southwest U.S. His primary responsibilities in his new role are to grow AUM, build out the Dallas practice and develop new business opportunities.
“The potential for new challenges and opportunities that an independent firm like Americana offers is very different from my background in the major wirehouse space,” Carlisle said. “I am excited to join this fast-growing, dynamic practice and reuniting with my long-time Morgan Stanley colleagues.”
Founded in 2019, Americana Partners is part of Dynasty Financial Partners’ Network of independent financial advisory firms and manages around $3.8 billion in assets across 775 clients.
Ann Leddy Joins Captrust as Chief Compliance Officer
Ann Leddy became the newest chief compliance officer at Captrust in September, joining the firm after three years running compliance for Vanguard’s retail client division and more than six as director of legal and compliance for BlackRock. Her career has also included time with Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Captrust’s former CCO Denise Buchanan, who has been with the firm for more than two decades, has stepped into the role of the senior director of compliance and is working with Leddy during the transition.
In her new position, Leddy is responsible for the firm’s regulatory compliance program, including the design and implementation of policies, procedures and controls to comply with regulatory requirements, monitoring and testing for adherence to those controls, while also furthering the firm's culture of compliance.
Founded in 1997 and registered with the SEC in 2003, Raleigh, N.C.-based Captrust employs close to 1,500 employees across 85 locations, overseeing more than $832 billion in client assets, including a little more than $143 billion in SEC-registered AUM. The firm is minority owned by GTCR and Carlyle.