&Partners, the fast-growing hybrid RIA founded by ex-Wells Fargo execs in 2023, is adding two longtime UBS executives to its leadership team as it expands its ambitions further upmarket.
According to a Tuesday announcement by &Partners, Mara Glassel and Julie Fox will share responsibility for the advisor-owned firm’s ultra-high-net-worth and private wealth businesses. Glassel and Fox will join as equity partners and members of the executive team after they finish their notice periods at UBS.
Between them, they spent more than 50 years at the Swiss-based bank, with Glassel having served for 28 years and most recently running its Greater New York Market, which covers 18 offices. Before that she was head of national sales for Wealth Management Americas, and she helped build out UBS’s banking and structured notes business.
Fox, a 24-year veteran, oversaw wealth management and private wealth management across a 15-state Southeast Region. Earlier in her career she ran national sales and launched the UBS Global Family Office Group.
John Alexander, cofounder of &Partners, pointed to an industry dynamic wherein "advisors are demanding more – for their clients and for the businesses they’re building.
“Bigger isn’t better. Better means sophisticated capabilities, support from people who know you, and a voice in decisions that shape your future," Alexander said. "Advisors are choosing independence because they see the opportunity to have all three.”
The hires come amid ongoing advisor retention struggles at UBS, which experienced a 2.2% decline in US financial advisor headcount in the 12 months through June. According to Diamond Consultants' first-half 2026 transition report, UBS ended the period with 5,644 advisors. Beyond UBS, the report said 46% of advisors leaving wirehouses chose an independent model, compared to just 24% who crossed over to another wirehouse.
“Mara and Julie know what it takes to serve sophisticated clients and support exceptional advisors,” said David Kowach, cofounder of &Partners. “They’re choosing independence to help build something great.”
The two incoming additions at &Partners will also add to the firm's claim as a champion for gender representation in the industry, with women leading a reported 40% of its advisor teams.
“That two accomplished women are making this choice together is noteworthy,” said Kristi Mitchem, cofounder of &Partners. “It speaks to what independence can offer: a meaningful stake in the value you create, a voice in your future, and the freedom to put your leadership into practice."
The announced addition of Glassel and Fox follow another move at &Partners, Noblewood Wealth Advisors, which reported $472 million in prehire assets and was the 130th advisor practice to join.
Based in Gurnee, Illinois, founders Dave Hatton and John Reakes have worked together for two decades and launched Noblewood this year. The five-person team previously affilliated with LPL also includes George Yost, Heather Cortez and Michelle Sowa.
Since its inception in 2023, &Partners has proven to be a prolific recruiter, growing itself into a platform with approximately $65 billion in assets across 130 practices at the end of September.
On the whole, Wells Fargo has provided the richest seam for its recruitment efforts. In July the firm signed four teams, the last of them a $1.8 billion Mississippi team from Wells Fargo, 32 North Wealth of Meridian. About a month later it added Crown Legacy Wealth, an $838 million Bellevue practice that had also been with the wirehouse.
The founders originally set an ambitious target of attracting 100 advisor teams. They managed to achieve that goal in just over two years, officially crossing the milestone in October last year on the strength of its model giving advisors ownership status rather than just taking them in as employees.
“Give exceptional advisors the freedom to lead, the resources to deliver, and ownership in what they’re building, and you can raise the standard,” Kowach said in a statement on Tuesday. "That is the opportunity we see for our firm — and the direction we believe the industry is moving.”
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