Ameriprise, Raymond James Nab Wells Fargo Reps: Recruiting Roundup

Ameriprise Financial says it recruited advisor David Kutz of Scottsdale, Arizona, to its employee channel from Wells Fargo, where he spent the past 11 years. With support from registered client service associate John Santillo, Kutz has about $123 million in assets under management.

“My partner and I feel we are able to do more for our clients here at Ameriprise, and we are excited about the opportunity to grow our practice. The financial planning tools and advanced technology will help us do so,” according to Kutz, who has 37 years in the business (including 15 at Citigroup).

Also moving to the employee channel of Ameriprise is Rick Mundrane of Deerfield, Illinois. He left Morgan Stanley, where he had about $106 million in assets and worked the past nine years. He has been an advisor for 27 years.

“I chose Ameriprise for its client-centric philosophy, which was exactly what I was looking for after nearly three decades in this business,” Mundrane said. “As a former military officer, working for a firm with a strong reputation for its commitment to clients is very important to me.”

More Updates

Separately, Raymond James added advisors Elizabeth Hulley, CFP; Sean Reynolds, APMA; and Benjamin Nicholson, CRPC, to its employee channel in Buffalo, New York, from Wells Fargo.

“As Raymond James continues to grow in the Northeast, I’m pleased to welcome exceptional advisors like Elizabeth, Sean and Benjamin to the firm,” according to John Kuklenski, Northern division director for Raymond James & Associates. 

The team does business now as the Hully Reynolds Nicholson Group of Raymond James. It has roughly $100 million in client assets. Joining the three advisors in the move is client service associate Kristie Gruszka.

“We were drawn to Raymond James primarily because of the firm’s culture,” said Nicholson, in a statement.

Hulley has 35-plus years of industry experience at firms such as PaineWebber and A.G. Edwards. Reynolds has more than 16 years in the business, including time with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Nicholson started his financial-services career 14 years ago with a firm in London, later moving to the United States and working at Edward Jones.

LPL News

Meanwhile, LPL Financial says that it  John Marshall & Associates Investment Center of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, has joined it hybrid platforms.

The firm includes John Marshall and Daniel Sickles, as well as Sean Goldney. The firm’s three advisors work with about $185 million of assets and recently left Cetera Advisor Networks.

Marshall started the firm in 1973 (and was affiliated with LPL from 2009 to 2011); he now plans to sell the business to LPL Financial advisor Heath Haynes. Haynes, who has been affiliated with LPL for eight years, will join Sickles and Goldney in the practice.

After 51 years it’s time for me to retire,” Marshall said in a statement. “I will see the group through the transition, and I am confident that my successor, Heath Haynes, with his longevity and stability, will provide the firm with a partner for continued success.”

“We are able to meet [advisors] where they are — whether that is growing their firm or transitioning into succession — and deliver the support and services that are right for them and will add value to their business and their clients,” according to Rich Steinmeier, LPL managing director and divisional president of Business Development.

LPL also announced recently that the Center for Wealth Planning of Troy, Michigan, and America Group Retirement Strategy Centers of Southfield, Michigan, have merged.

CWP, led by Joseph Ruzycki since 2005, is a 10-year affiliate of LPL Financial. AG’s head is Craig Snyder, who has worked with the independent broker-dealer since 2003.

The combined large enterprise Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction (or OSJ) will service more than 100 registered representatives in both the independent and banking institution channels across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. It now has more than $4 billion in assets under advisement.

“On behalf of the LPL Financial family, we congratulate both large enterprise teams for their vision to see the opportunities this merger could bring,” said Andy Kalbaugh, LPL’s managing director and divisional president of National Sales and Consulting, in a statement.

Ruzycki will take over the OSJ managing principal tasks for the independent advisors,  while Snyder will be the OSJ managing principal for the institutional producing reps with CPA firms, banks, credit unions and law firms.

Arkadios Development

Meanwhile, Enrique Lopez, a McAllen, Texas-based registered independent advisor overseeing more than $100 million in assets, has moved his practice from an LPL Financial-affiliated community bank to Arkadios Capital. Lopez has 20 years in the business and spent the past 10 with LPL.

“Arkadios Capital is an organized system of real people, who have taken the time to understand me and help me solve the very challenging needs of my very unique multifaceted, multinational client base,” according to Lopez.

Arkadios Capital, a privately held independent broker-dealer, has nearly $3 billion in assets. It was started by David Millican.

“Enrique has grown his advisory business through hard work, by being flexible and by solving how to best serve his clients,” said Millican, in a statement. “That is Arkadios Capital’s DNA. We are entrepreneurs. We have grown successful independent practices. We have the expertise to help our partners like Enrique continue to grow, to serve their clients and to thrive.”

Cetera’s Latest Recruits

In other news, Joseph and Pamela Malara have joined the Cetera Investment Services platform. The husband-and-wife team work with some $180 million in client assets and are based at the Bank of St. Francisville, Louisiana, and Peoples Bank of Pointe Coupee Parish, which serves New Roads, Livonia, Central and Baton Rouge markets.

“Cetera’s long-standing expertise in supporting financial institutions-based practices like ours has already been evident in the consultative training sessions in which we have taken part, and in the seamless transition support we have received,” according to Pamela.

Pamela has been an advisor for 22 years and has spent most that time affiliated with Investment Professionals, which Ameriprise said it would acquire in April. Joseph has been in the business for 13 years.

“In addition to a client-first orientation, the Malara team’s decision was driven by the same value proposition that has brought so many bank and credit union-based wealth management programs to work with us, including our ability to help advisors meet their growth goals,” said LeAnn Rummel, president of Cetera Investment Services, in a statement.

Announcement from HD Vest

HD Vest says Evan Guido, who works with about $185 million in client assets under administration, and his firm Aksala Wealth Advisors of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, are now in the firm’s network. Previously the group was with Baird, which was Guido’s employer for 11 years.

“Aksala Wealth Advisors’ mission is to bring tax-smart wealth management, packaged in a family office, to the millionaires next door,” according to Guido. “By partnering with HD Vest, we now have access to a wide range of services and a network of investment professionals.

A St. Petersburg, Florida, native, Guido spent 11 years in Alaska and began working in financial services there; he has been an advisor for 16 years. The Last Frontier was the inspiration for the firm’s name, which is Alaska spelled backwards and also an uncharted geological formation in the Yukon.

“We are pleased to welcome Evan and Aksala Wealth Advisors to HD Vest,” said HD Vest Interim CEO Todd Mackay.