Kestra Financial, the Austin-based independent broker-dealer, has added Ecclesiastes Wealth Partners to its advisor community, bringing approximately $550 million in client assets to the platform; the latest recruit in what has been a sustained push by the firm to attract planning-focused practices.
The Richardson, Texas-based firm was founded by Shannon Harris, CFP, BFA, and operates alongside partners Sarah Walsh and Justin Snowden. The team's credentials span comprehensive financial planning, investment management, divorce financial analysis, and multigenerational wealth planning - a combination the firm has built its identity around since inception.
Harris said the decision came down to finding a partner that could support the firm's growth without compromising how it works with clients.
"What stood out to us about Kestra was the combination of flexibility, resources, and support," Harris said. "It gives us access to additional planning solutions and technology while allowing us to continue building the business in a way that reflects who we are and how we serve our clients."
Beyond platform capabilities, Harris said Kestra's culture and its community of independent advisors were meaningful factors - the opportunity to collaborate with peers while retaining full control of the business.
John Amore, president of Kestra Financial, said the addition reflects the kind of firm the platform is designed to attract. "Shannon, Sarah, and team have built an impressive practice rooted in service, planning excellence, and a genuine commitment to helping clients achieve meaningful outcomes," Amore said. "Firms like Ecclesiastes are exactly the type of growth-oriented, client-focused businesses we are proud to partner with."
The Ecclesiastes addition lands during a period of deliberate expansion across Kestra's business. In August 2026, the firm appointed Kelly Apple as head of wealth management, ending a lengthy search for the role that had been open since Amore's elevation to president in April 2025.
Apple, a former managing director at BlackRock with more than two decades of experience in asset management and intermediary distribution, will oversee Kestra's investment management, advanced planning, advisory solutions, retirement and insurance, and alternatives functions across both Kestra Financial and its breakaway-advisor channel, Kestra Private Wealth Services.
On the technology and planning side, Kestra announced in January 2026 a partnership with RightCapital, giving affiliated advisors turnkey access to the financial planning software platform and its retirement, tax, and insurance planning tools.
The firm simultaneously appointed Christine E. Brown — a licensed attorney with more than two decades of experience advising ultra-high-net-worth families on estate and wealth transfer strategies — as head of advanced planning, according to a Kestra press release dated January 21, 2026.
Kestra has also been expanding its recruiting infrastructure throughout the year, adding four business development consultants in March 2026 to cover the Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast, and then bolstering its Western US operation in July 2026 with the addition of Austen Karr, a nearly 11-year Raymond James veteran, alongside an internal promotion.
The firm currently supports more than 1,300 producing financial professionals overseeing approximately $142 billion in assets under advisement through its subsidiaries, according to Kestra.
Its internal asset management arm, Kestra Investment Management, reached $5 billion in assets under management in June 2026, offering 55 model portfolios exclusively to affiliated advisors.
For Ecclesiastes, the timing aligns with the firm's own ambitions. Through the Kestra partnership, the practice gains access to AI-powered tools, integrated technology, and business consulting resources — capabilities it plans to use to scale operations and deepen the client experience without departing from its planning-first approach.
These challenges are “changing the economics we see retirement savers face,” said Christopher Ceder of Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Retiring RIA seller David Laidlaw alleges the Carnegie valued his stake on $11.7 million EBITA while pitching potential buyers on $21.3 million.
New tool gives RIAs and family offices AI help vetting private market deals, with some users reportedly halving review time.
Investors got projected returns dressed up as real ones, SEC says
Parents must still act to get the $1,000 federal seed and employer contributions, giving financial advisors a role in the rollout.
As AI makes financial information more accessible than ever, Lana Hock explains why human judgment, trust, and empathy remain the qualities clients value most in a financial advisor
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
