Goldman, BNY announce leadership refresh in wealth management

Goldman, BNY announce leadership refresh in wealth management
Meanwhile $6B RIA Sowell completes its transition from founder-run business.
JAN 27, 2026

Goldman Sachs and BNY have elevated a slate of senior executives tied directly to their wealth and asset management ambitions.

At Goldman several senior leaders closely tied to its Asset & Wealth Management franchise have been elevated to the firm’s Management Committee, reinforcing the strategic importance of fee‑based and recurring revenue businesses to its long‑term plan.  

Newly named to the Management Committee are John Mallory and Nishi Somaiya, who will become global co‑heads of Wealth Management; Kristin Olson, global head of Alternatives for Wealth within AWM; James Reynolds and Vivek Bantwal, global co‑heads of Private Credit within Goldman Sachs Asset Management; Michael Brandmeyer, global head and chief investment officer of the External Investing Group; and Gregory Calnon, global co‑head of Public Investing.  

By elevating the executives responsible for private credit, alternatives, public investing and wealth management, Goldman is effectively putting the full spectrum of its AWM product and distribution engine at the center of firm governance.

BNY wealth focus

Meanwhile, BNY has reorganized leadership of its wealth businesses, placing BNY Pershing and Archer Managed Account Solutions under a single executive, Adam Vos, who becomes Global Head of Wealth Solutions and remains on the firm’s Executive Committee.

The move effectively unifies its custody, clearing and managed account capabilities – including the Wove platform – under one leader with a mandate to deepen service to advisors and institutions across the wealth ecosystem.  

Vos, previously Global Head of Markets, now sits at the intersection of BNY’s clearing franchise and its growing managed account offering, a combination that is increasingly central to how advisors construct portfolios, deliver model‑based solutions and scale their practices.

Alongside Vos’s appointment, BNY has shifted Jim Crowley, long‑time Global Head of BNY Pershing, into the role of Executive Vice Chair, a client‑facing position focused on strengthening and expanding relationships across the firm’s platforms.

Laide Majiyagbe, formerly Global Head of Liquidity, becomes Global Head of Markets and joins the Executive Committee, overseeing foreign exchange, fixed income, equities, liquidity and financing, and execution services for institutional clients worldwide.  

BNY is treating Pershing, its advisor platform and its managed account engine less as separate businesses and more as an integrated wealth infrastructure stack. That integration – under an executive drawn from the markets side of the house – suggests the firm expects demand for sophisticated, multi‑asset implementation and scalable advice delivery to keep rising.

Sowell Management transition 

While the giants of Wall Street fine‑tune their executive committees, Sowell Management – a privately held RIA platform with more than $6 billion in client assets under administration and management as of September 2025 – has executed a founder‑led leadership evolution designed to fuel inorganic growth.  

The firm has named Daryl Seaton as Chief Executive Officer in what it describes as a long‑planned succession, while founder Bill Sowell becomes Chief Strategy Officer with a focus on “long‑term strategic and inorganic growth initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions.”  

Seaton brings more than 25 years of experience to the CEO role, beginning his career at New York Life, where he rose to Senior Partner and led more than 150 agents and financial advisors, before launching his own firm, Solera Asset Managers, which ultimately developed an eight‑year relationship with Sowell. He joined Sowell as Chief Operating Officer in 2020 and became President in 2023, giving him direct oversight of the firm’s operational build‑out before assuming the top job.  

Last year, Sowell announced an exclusive partnership with global asset manager Rayliant. As part of the agreement, Rayliant’s founder and chairman Jason Hsu was appointed chief investment strategist for Sowell.  

Under the joint leadership of Sowell and Seaton, the firm has operated using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) framework and has expanded its platform with offerings such as FLEX Connect, an end‑to‑end technology solution; Sowell Insurance Services; and Trek Wealth Solutions, its retail wealth management brand.  

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is one of the Top 10 largest hedge funds by AUM. Explore how US RIAs and advisors can analyze the largest hedge funds by AUM and use insights from these giants to build stronger client portfolios

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