Wellington, Clearstead tap wirehouse alums to bolster wealth leadership

Two wealth management firms have added senior leadership talent with deep wirehouse experience, signaling a continued push to grow their presence and capabilities in the advisor-focused channel.

Wellington Management has appointed Christina Kopec Rooney as head of US wealth, a newly created position based in New York. She joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she most recently served as managing director and head of commercial and digital strategy for global third party wealth.

In a statement published Monday, the firm said Rooney will lead Wellington’s US wealth strategy, collaborating with its leadership to expand distribution and product development across multiple channels. Her mandate includes supporting client engagement and advancing growth efforts across mutual funds, ETFs, separately managed accounts, and alternative investment vehicles.

The firm currently manages and subadvises more than $600 billion in US wealth assets. Globally, Wellington advises over 2,500 clients across 60 countries and manages more than $1.2 trillion as of December 31.

Rooney spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs in a range of leadership roles, including head of digital retail product management and global head of liquidity solutions product. Earlier in her career, she held fixed income and equity product management roles at Fidelity Investments.

Separately, Clearstead Advisors has brought on Albert Leshinsky as senior managing director of advisor recruiting. Based in Cleveland, Clearstead advises more than $47 billion in assets for both private clients and institutions.

Leshinsky joins from JPMorgan Chase, where he was vice president and head of advisor recruiting for the JPMorgan Advisors business. His background includes experience at First Republic Private Wealth Management as deputy head of wealth manager recruiting, and earlier leadership roles at UBS Wealth Management.

In his new role, Leshinsky is tasked with overseeing all aspects of advisor recruitment, including initial outreach and the onboarding process. He will work closely with Clearstead’s leadership team to support expansion efforts and advisor transitions.

Founded in 1989, Clearstead integrates tax planning, family office services, and trust administration with investment management for high-net-worth clients, while also advising more than 250 institutions, including endowments, retirement plans, and healthcare organizations.

The firm announced two major changes to its leadership in quick succession late last year. On the heels of hiring Envestnet alum Jean Heath as its senior managing director of advisor solutions national sales, it revealed in December that Bradley Knapp would become its next president and CEO effective January 1, succeeding David Fulton Jr., who has served as CEO since 2014.