A father-son duo from Raymond James have chosen LPL Financial's signature supported independence platform to launch their own practice, while RayJay and Osaic have each scored modest recruiting wins from Merrill Lynch and Commonwealth.
On Tuesday, LPL announced that Robert and Keegan Bell have launched Bell Wealth Partners in affiliation with Strategic Wealth Services, departing from Raymond James.
Their new independent practice, based in Fairbanks, Alaska with a satellite office in Medford, Oregon, manages about $450 million in client assets across advisory, brokerage and retirement plan accounts.
They are joined by advisor Tom Cook and a support team that includes Renee Schoettle, Margarita Duran-Espino, Jamie Walker, and Kirsten Bell. The firm is positioning itself as a comprehensive planning resource for multigenerational families and business owners.
“We take the time to get to know each client on a personal level to better understand their financial aspirations,” said Robert Bell, whose 27-year history on BrokerCheck also reflects stops at Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch. “We work with their accountants and attorneys to create a customized plan that is right for them.”
Keegan Bell added that the move gives their firm more latitude to support estate and intergenerational planning needs.
“This move allows us to really increase that value add and better take care of them, not just for them but for the next generation of wealth and the transfer to their beneficiaries,” he said.
Meanwhile, Raymond James announced Tuesday that it has added Paul Hess to its employee advisor channel, Raymond James & Associates.
Hess joins RJA through Silverman Partners in Boca Raton, Florida. He comes from Merrill Lynch, where he managed about $100 million in client assets, and is joined by client service associate Donna Kroyman.
Hess brings over two decades of experience advising high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, including private business owners and executives. He began his financial services career in investment banking and has focused on comprehensive planning strategies including wealth transfer, lending, and tax management.
Most recently before Hess, RJA welcomed a four-advisor team of breakaways from UBS in New Orleans last month.
Over at Osaic, Brent Bridenback, founder of Bridenback Wealth Management in Cle Elum, Washington, chose to depart from Commonwealth Financial Network, bringing with him roughly $90 million in advisory assets under management across 26 high-net-worth households.
Bridenback, who had stops at Ameriprise and Primevest before his most recent five-year tenure at Commonwealth, cited "freedom, flexibility and platform depth" as the key drivers in his decision.
Osaic president and CEO Jamie Price highlighted the move as a vote of confidence, calling the addition of Bridenback “a powerful endorsement of our advisor-first culture and the strength of our High Net Worth platform.”
Broker-dealer firms have been pulling out all the stops to pull in Commonwealth's elite advisors, many of whom are in "stay or go" mode following LPL's surprise acquisition announcement in March.
Osaic has also been taking steps to reinforce its appeal to advisors, including its mid-June reveal of a deal to buy $13.5 billion CW Advisors.
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