Woodbury Financial Services promotes Rick Fergesen to president and CEO

Rick Fergesen, a veteran of Woodbury Financial Services Inc., has been named president and chief executive of the broker-dealer. The firm had been looking for a new chief executive since December, when Pat McEvoy resigned. Woodbury is one of the four independent contractor broker-dealers that make up Advisor Group, which American International Group Inc. owns. More: New Advisor Group CEO Erica McGinnis' big plans take shape Mr. Fergesen joined Woodbury in 1998 and most recently was its executive vice president of business and field development, a recruiting position. AIG completed its purchase of Woodbury from The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. in 2012. Mr. Fergesen worked on that transition, implementing an integration plan that he created that resulted in both high retention and new recruits of advisers, according to a statement from Woodbury. “We have made tremendous enhancements to our firm in recent years, offering Advisor Group's industry leading technology platform, enhanced support tools and services,” Mr. Fergesen said in the statement. Woodbury has about 1,200 registered representatives and financial advisers. Advisor Group is one of the largest networks of independent broker-dealers in the industry and has about 5,400 representatives and advisers.