Envestnet has welcomed a veteran RIA leader with stripes from Atria and Lincoln Financial as it looks to forge more partnerships within the increasingly competitive registered investment advisory space.
The Pennsylvania-based wealth tech giant said Monday that it has named Sean Meighan as head of RIA distribution, a newly created position aimed at strengthening the firm’s outreach to independent advisors.
The move reflects an effort to deepen relationships in the RIA space as more advisory firms seek scalable technology and data-driven solutions to meet evolving client demands.
Meighan joins the firm with two decades of experience in platform development and advisory services. He most recently served as managing director and head of advisory services at Atria Wealth Solutions, where he helped lead a platform overhaul that contributed to a doubling of firmwide revenue over five years.
In February last year, LPL announced an agreement to acquire Atria, which at the time had 2,400 financial advisors and registered reps with $100 billion in client assets.
Following the completion of the deal in October, the founders of Atria, Doug Ketterer and Eugene Elias, revealed plans to leave LPL in an April letter thanking those who supported their "incredible journey" as they looked to exit in the next few months.
Prior to his time at Atria, Meighan held leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Network, where he focused on advisory sales and platform growth.
In his new role at Envestnet, he will report to Andrew Stavaridis, chief relationship officer, and will lead a team focused on delivering technology, data insights, and managed account solutions tailored to RIA firms. His responsibilities include enhancing advisor access to core tools such as Tamarac, Report Studio, and trading and reporting systems.
“Sean is uniquely positioned to understand the technology needs of today’s RIAs, and the various ways in which they operate,” Stavaridis said on Monday. “As an industry veteran with experience on the advisory side of the table, Sean brings critical insight into what RIAs need to succeed.”
The role was created as part of a broader effort by Envestnet to support RIA growth and practice scalability through integrated services. The firm says it now works with more than one-third of financial advisors in the US and supports approximately $6.5 trillion in platform assets.
“RIAs construct their businesses in a variety of ways and need a platform that can support their unique models,” said Meighan. “Having led a corporate RIA and supported thousands of independent advisors, I’ve seen firsthand how the right technology and service model can accelerate advisor growth.”
Operational drag between an advisor signing and accounts going live is emerging as a competitive liability for wealth management firms.
Bain says companies face a "winner's paradox" as AI transformation collides with complex integrations.
Deal lifts global assets to roughly $523 billion under management.
Choice anxiety, prestige bias, and the temptation to make selections based on outsourced confidence are just some of the parallels between investing and the world of wine tasting.
Regulators found Bank of America's monitoring software had a known flaw Merrill left uncorrected for years.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
