CapTrust snags star 401(k) adviser from RBC

CapTrust Financial Advisors has scooped up RBC Wealth Management retirement plan adviser John A. Pickett, the latest in a string of high-profile hires for the firm. Mr. Pickett, a senior vice president at CapTrust, established an advisory practice at RBC Wealth Management's Institutional Consulting Group, where he managed $8.5 billion in assets for retirement plans. Also joining CapTrust with Mr. Pickett, are Jack Pratt as financial adviser and Roberta Kayatta as client coordinator associate. It's another big hire for CapTrust, which early last year brought on 10 advisers, including Steve Wilt, a 20-year Merrill Lynch plan adviser. In the last six weeks, the firm made two more additions: Dan DiGiacomo, an adviser with FidelityFirst, an affiliate of SagePoint Financial Inc., and Christopher Kulick, an adviser at Delaware Investments. Firms that focus on the 401(k) market, like CapTrust, have recently reported a pickup in interest from advisers who focus primarily on retirement plans. Those advisers have cited a list of reasons as to why they have decided to part ways with their broker-dealers, including their firms' clumsiness in working with third-party administrators, and because the new employers allow them to work as co-fiduciaries. That wasn't the case with Mr. Pickett, though. “With RBC, we were functioning as a fiduciary and we didn't take commissions,” he explained in an interview. Rather, he was attracted to CapTrust for the firm's support and the chance to work with professionals entirely dedicated to the 401(k) fiduciary market, Mr. Pickett said. “I'm dealing with a group of like-minded people, and the thought leadership comes from many places and not just me, as the head of my practice,” he said. Mr. Pickett added that CapTrust had access to extensive investment research on managers and retirement products, like target date and stable value funds. Going fully independent was a consideration for Mr. Pickett, but he said it would have been a massive undertaking. “I couldn't put together the infrastructure to provide the same level of service,” he added. “And there are some positives to being with a larger group, including insurance.”