Advisor moves: Merrill lures $412M Wells Fargo team in Charlotte

Beyond the billion dollar-plus team additions at Cresset and Wells Fargo this week, advisor recruitment has run at a fairly rapid clip so far in December, including some notable moves at Merrill, Cetera, and Citizens Private Wealth.

Merrill adds ex-Wells Fargo duo in North Carolina

In Charlotte, Merrill has hired former Wells Fargo advisors Ryan Culpepper and Sam Pennell, who oversee $412 million in client assets.

The pair are joining Merrill’s Charlotte & Associates Market and will sit in the firm’s Charlotte Uptown office, supported by client associates Jane Nicolas, Madison Martinez and Josh McCollum.

The Charlotte hires follow another Atlanta-area move at Merrill last month, where it welcomed back a $420 million team from Morgan Stanley. The two boomerang advisors, Scott Schoenberg and Wesley “Wes” Smith, generated $3 million in annual revenue at Morgan Stanley and have joined Merrill in Alpharetta, Georgia as part of the Atlanta Buckhead Market.

Prior to Wells Fargo, Culpepper and Pennell were affiliated with Morgan Stanley, according to their BrokerCheck records. Culpepper, the more senior of the two with 24 years of industry experience, also had a short stint at Citi and had been registered with Merrill for roughly eight years ending in 2008.

Merrill’s Charlotte recruits have also drawn industry recognition, having made the Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams list for North Carolina this year. 

More Commonwealth advisors skip to Cetera 

On the East Coast, Cetera, which had $625 billion in assets under administration as of September 30, is continuing to lean into the disruption triggered by LPL’s acquisition of Commonwealth.

Veteran advisor David Bashaw, who oversees about $115 million in client assets, is joining Cetera Wealth Partners after nearly four decades with Commonwealth. With a 42-year record in the industry, he operates from offices in New England and Florida.

In a statement, Bashaw said he was intrigued by the open letters Cetera published in the wake of the LPL deal announcement, saying Cetera emerged as the most aligned with his former firm among all options he vetted.

Also this week, Cetera welcomed Piedmont Financial Partners, a seven-person team led by a multigenerational advisor quartet in Greensboro, Georgia. Howell Cullens, his son Nash Cullens, Trey Rhodes, and Nick Lyons oversee a total of $184 in assets under administration, and are now part of the Cetera Wealth Partners community.

The two moves come after another ex-Commonwealth advisor, Shawna Vanaken, joined Cetera's Avantax community in Oregon along with her team at Pinnacle Tax & Financial Services.

Citizens onboards 401(k)-focused advisory team to private wealth unit

Citizens, meanwhile, made further progress building out its private wealth business with a 401(k)-focused advisory team in New York.

The new group, to be branded as CF Retirement Solutions, is led by advisors Greg Cantone and Anthony Fella and will focus on small and mid-sized corporate retirement plans while serving clients nationally.

Tom Metzger, head of Citizens Private Wealth, said the move is part of a broader push to deepen the bank’s advisory bench as it integrates new teams and expands its footprint with employers. He said Citizens remains focused on “building [its] national platform and offering specialized expertise to meet the financial needs of [its] clients.”

The latest team is Citizens Private Wealth’s 10th advisory addition over roughly one and one-half years, part of a buildout that has brought in more than $10 billion in new client assets across wealth planning, investment management, banking and retirement plan mandates.

Citizens Financial Group reported $222.7 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30.