MAI Capital Management has announced an unorthodox hire to help advance its inorganic growth strategy, putting a longtime Barron’s executive in charge of strategic advisor recruiting.
The hire gives the Cleveland-based registered investment advisor, now majority-owned by Carlyle, a seasoned talent scout as it hunts for advisor teams across the U.S.
Matt Barthel, who has officially joined MAI as managing partner, strategic advisor recruiting, will report to managing partner Jim Kacic and work with the firm’s business development team, concentrating on lift-outs, the industry parlance for recruiting an entire advisory team from a rival firm in a single move.
The appointment brings a recruiter who knows the industry’s top producers from the evaluating side of the table. As per the announcement by MAI, Barthel has nearly 35 years in journalism and 20 years in wealth management data operations, including his tenure overseeing the financial advisor rankings at Barron’s.
“One of our biggest initiatives is to attract the best and brightest financial advisors and bring them on board to broaden our reach in the marketplace,” said Rick Buoncore, MAI’s chairman and CEO.
The business of advisor rankings had recently turned into a flashpoint of conversation over the summer, after news of a secret multimillion-dollar payment to a one-time editor at Forbes overseeing its top advisors list came to light. Morgan Stanley decided to drop out of the rankings following the revelations, while another industry outlet reported Wells Fargo has suspended its participation in Forbes/Shook rankings.
Barthel arrives as MAI enjoys a fresh capital injection from Carlyle, which first gained exposure to the firm in 2021 through its stake in insurance firm Galway Holdings. In March, that relationship expanded into Carlyle’s first majority-owned bet on an RIA via a deal that valued MAI at more than $2.8 billion. At the time, Buoncore told InvestmentNews that roughly a third of the firm’s equity would remain in employees’ hands.
MAI reported about $77.3 billion in combined client assets as of April 30, 2026, with more than 700 people across over 40 offices. Since January 2024 it has completed more than 20 acquisitions, including its largest-ever deal with Los Angeles-based Evoke Advisors, which roughly doubled MAI’s size and deepened its work with entertainment-industry and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Since 2004, Barron's has been in the business of publishing advisor rankings, which over time expanded into four individual lists including its Top 100 Advisors, Top 100 Women Advisors, Top 100 Independent Advisors, and Top 1500 Advisors. The publication also publishes a Top RIA Firms list and two team rankings covering private wealth management and institutional consulting teams, though the 2026 wave of the institutional consulting teams list will be the last for Barron's.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Barthel's history at Barron's goes back to October 2007, spending his first 10 years as a "senior editor overseeing the magazine's financial advisor rankings and its coverage of the wealth management industry."
Last December, the SEC issued a marketing rule risk alert warned that advisors were not satisfying disclosure requirements for when "direct or indirect” compensation was sent to third-party rating providers, with advisors often hyperlinking to disclosures rather than meeting a requirement to give them "clear and prominent" placement alongside testimonials or ratings.
"[Third party rankings or awards] are not too hard to come by if you’re willing to pay to participate, yet when favorable results are announced and an adviser wishes to tout their ranking, they can be reluctant to provide clear and prominent disclosure indicating that they paid to participate or to be promoted within the survey," Lori Weston, head of compliance at STP Investment Services, told InvestmentNews around that time. "Omitting this disclosure is clearly misleading.”
Aside from MAI's interest in RIAs and wirehouses, Barthel’s network may also serve the firm’s sports and entertainment practice, which traces its roots in athlete wealth management to the 1970s.
“Matt is a ‘triple threat’ with deep ties to RIAs and wirehouse and sports-focused advisors. His expertise and relationships across the financial advisor landscape will play a major role in our efforts to expand our advisor network in new areas and specialties to those who reflect our emphasis on catering to the needs of those we are fortunate to serve,” Buoncore said.
MAI is recruiting in a market that favors its model. Research from Cerulli Associates shows that independent channels are reshaping how firms recruit advisors. Independent and hybrid RIAs held 27% of industry assets in 2024, up from 21% a decade earlier.
“Advisor preferences clearly favor independence. 71% of advisors say they would choose an independent channel if they were to switch. Additionally, 88% of independent RIAs say they are very likely to remain affiliated with their current firm over the next 12 months, and 97% indicate they would switch to another independent RIA if they did,” said Stephen Caruso, associate director at Cerulli.
Private equity-backed acquirers have done much of the hiring, and consolidators have become the main engine of RIA recruiting. Cerulli projects that independent RIA headcount will grow 11.8% by 2028. That is more than double the 4.7% projected for independent broker-dealers, the next-fastest-growing channel.
MAI says it will be selective. “Cultural fit isn’t just a priority for us, it’s non-negotiable because the strength and future of the firm are tied to our full team reflecting MAI’s shared set of values,” Buoncore said.
Barthel said he was drawn by the firm’s trajectory.
“I’ve enjoyed watching MAI’s ascension as a fast-growing and respected RIA, and I’m excited for the opportunity to play a key role in driving that growth,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with the team and helping leading advisors in the industry find a place where they are supported with the resources, expertise and environment they need to thrive and to serve their clients in a holistic way.”
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