Raymond James and Beacon Pointe Advisors announced significant acquisitions. Raymond James lured a nearly $1 billion team from Merrill Lynch, while Beacon Pointe Advisors added two advisory teams totaling $613 million in client assets.
According to Raymond James, advisers Adam Ours, John Koch and Padma Jambunath are joining the firm's employee adviser channel, created to spin off Merrill, where they managed about $995 million in client assets.
The team will be based in Cleveland and includes senior client relationship manager Jeffrey Danzinger, senior registered client relationship associate Sasha Delic-Milanovic and senior client service associate Betsy Margolin.
Jona has more than 20 years of experience, starting his career at Northwestern Mutual Investments before moving to Merrill for 18 years; among other credentials, he holds the designation of Accredited Sports and Entertainment Wealth Management Advisor.
Jambunath was born and raised in India and worked in Asia and Europe before moving to the United States in 2009. According to SEC filings, she worked at Morgan Stanley before joining Merrill in 2017.
Koch entered the industry in 1993 at Lehman Brothers in San Francisco and spent more than 15 years at Cleveland-based Merrill Lynch. During that time, he was a sales manager, office director, advisor and senior vice president, working with clients in asset allocation and alternative investments, among other specialties. In a statement about the deal, Koch praised Raymond James' research, technology platforms and investment options.
“At Raymond James, we have found a balance of size, scale and a deep focus on relationships that enhances our ability to serve clients,” said Koch.
In October, Raymond James lured two teams from Merrill Lynch, each with more than $1 billion in assets under management. signature recruited a Williamsville, NY-based team of five advisors managing over $1 billion in its employee advisor channel, and a week later, a Texas-based team overseeing $1.3 billion did the same dance.
The firm announced at the beginning of this year that the current CFO Paul Shoukry will succeed CEO Paul Reilly as head of the company on February 20, 2025, as part of a “multi-year succession planning process”. Firm too promoted Tom Walrond to lead Raymond James & Associates, the firm's employee advisor channel.
Beacon Pointe makes moves in Dallas, Boston
In separate news, the additions of Beacon Pointe in Dallas and Boston increase the firm's assets under advisement to approximately $40 billion.
Artemis Financial Advisors is a Boston-based fee-only wealth team with $350 million in AUM, while WhiteRock Management is a family-owned team and is Beacon Pointe's seventh acquisition in Texas (and Beacon Pointe's seventh acquisition nationwide this year).
CEO Leigh Bivings founded Artemis during the financial crisis of 2008. According to the firm's website, it has four staff members and works with about 70 clients, many of whom are financially independent women, including retirees, wealthy women, doctors and professionals young people.
According to Beacon Pointe President Matt Cooper, the firm (one of the nation's most prominent female-founded RIAs) now has top women's markets, including Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Orlando and Southern California . Artemis will work with Beacon Pointe's other Boston-based office in Waltham to serve clients in the city and throughout New England.
WhiteRock is led by President and CIO David Gurun and four staff members. She works with clients in investment management and tax, estate and retirement planning. Beacon Pointe CEO and founder Shannon Eusey said the firm adds “the density of the booming Dallas-Fort Worth market that continues to be a key growth area for Beacon Pointe.”
In October, Southern California-based Beacon Pointe bought Landmark Wealth Management Groupa $1 billion RIA with offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California. Landmark was founded in 1977 and was led by partners John Underwood, Gary Tangwall and Todd Gillingham, and included 33 other team members.
Beacon Pointe has more than 580 employees in 64 offices nationwide. At the beginning of this month, the firm announced that it had hired ex Osaic Chief Financial Officer Jon Frojen as its new CFO. Frojen replaced John Gray, who had moved into the role of chief accounting officer at Beacon Pointe.
In 2021, the firm sold part of its business to private equity firm KKR.