Gateway Financial Partners, a large supervisory jurisdiction office of LPL Financial based in Glastonbury, Conn. with $6.5 billion in assets under advisement, has hired Christian Widen, a former senior vice president of business development at CircleBlack, as director of business development.
Widen has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to his time at CircleBlack, he was a Charles Schwab business development officer for nine years. He also has business development experience at Pershing, RBC Wealth Management and Fidelity.
Widen will report directly to David Wood, Gateway's founder and chief visionary officer, who said his appointment is part of a strategic plan to increase the firm's recruiting efforts. Widen has experience scaling businesses within the RIA space.
Gateway currently has approximately 170 advisors. Last year, the firm started an equity ownership program for its financial advisors and employees. According to the Gateway Growth Partnership, OSJ will receive a 15%-20% revenue share of the advisor's practice, in exchange for a combination of cash and equity in Gateway's holding company.
In 2022, Gateway gained Councilors Prideanother LPL OSJ, in Appleton, Wis. The deal represented Gateway OSJ's first major acquisition.