Wealthtech consultancy F2 Strategy announced an executive reshuffle this week.
Co-founder and CEO Doug Fritz, who has led the firm since its inception in 2016, is transitioning to the role of executive chairman and longtime executive of Orion Ryan Beach has been appointed CEO. In his new role, Fritz will focus his efforts on strategic initiatives and practical work with clients.
“We have already exceeded our aggressive growth targets and Ryan has the exact experience we need to help drive the next phase of our evolution,” Fritz wrote in the prepared statement announcing the changes.
In total, Beach spent almost 13 years in various executive leadership roles at Orion in both technology and wealth management and oversaw many of the firm's M&A initiatives. He most recently served as president of Orion Wealth Management and previously was chief operating officer for both that and the Orion Advisor Technology unit.
His recruitment is the latest addition to F2's expanding C-suite roster. Laura Korbel joined the firm as its first president in August 2023, and Jay Halbert moved into the newly created role of chief financial officer in April of this year.
Headquartered in Chicago, F2 has grown to more than 100 employees, built a network of more than 3,600 consultants worldwide and claims a client base with more than $3.8 trillion in assets under management.
In February, F2 acquired SKY Marketing Consultants, a full-service marketing company that also served wealth management firms and their advisors.
SKY co-founder Jeremy Jackson moved into the role of F2 chief marketing officer, while co-founder Liz Fritz, who had held the role, joined the F2 board and continued to work on strategic growth initiatives.
Most of the increase in the number of F2 employees occurred in June 2023 with the acquisition of Oakbrook Solutions with 75 employeesanother consultancy serving wealth managers. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, F2 simultaneously announced that private equity firm Renovus Capital Partners had taken a majority stake in the firm and helped facilitate the acquisition of Oakbrook.
Husband and wife team Doug and Liz Fritz founded F2 after years of working in wealth management for major banks. Doug Fritz spent two decades in wealth management, eventually serving as chief technology officer at the private banking arms of Wells Fargo and First Republic. He also served as a judge for the annual WealthManagement.com Industry prices and as a regular contributor to the publication. Liz Fritz led marketing for the high net worth and ultra high net worth segments at Bank of the West Wealth Management, Wells Fargo Abbot Downing and Ascent Private Capital Management of Bank of America before co-founding the consultancy.