Merchant adds Osaic's data chief for new C-suite role

Merchant has hired former Osaic data chief Clayton Chandler as chief data officer, adding another Wall Street and national security veteran to the growing cadre of executives helping independent firms compete on data and artificial intelligence.

Based in New York, Chandler will oversee Merchant’s enterprise data and AI strategy, with a mandate to treat information as a shared asset across its network of partner firms.

The privately held company – which has pledged to be a lifecycle equity partner that provides strategic backing to wealth firms including Summit Financial and Concurrent – said the role is designed to help advisors and wealth managers make better decisions, streamline operations and sharpen how they serve high-net-worth and institutional clients.

“Merchant continues to invest in top-tier talent, reflecting both the firm’s continued growth and the opportunity ahead,” said Tim Bello, co-founder and managing partner at Merchant. “Clayton’s appointment underscores our focus on building modern capabilities that help independent firms grow while staying true to their entrepreneurial roots.”

Chandler joins Merchant from Osaic, where he was chief data and analytics officer. Since he arrived there in 2021 – when it still went by its pre-2023 rebrand moniker, Advisor Group – the broker-dealer platform has grown into one of the world’s largest independent networks, with more than $800 billion in assets and over 10,000 independent advisors.

Before Osaic, Chandler held senior posts at Credit Suisse, including chief data scientist and chief information security officer, leading global teams in analytics and cybersecurity. He also served in multiple senior roles at the National Security Agency, most recently as technical director of high-performance data analytics, experience that could matter as wealth firms wrestle with both data protection and AI deployment.

At Merchant, he is expected to bring a similar focus on unifying data, analytics and AI in a way that advisors can actually use in the field.

"We can confirm the departure of Osaic’s chief data and analytics officer, Clayton Chandler, who has accepted an external opportunity," a spokesperson for Osaic told InvestmentNews. "We extend our gratitude to Clayton for his service with Osaic and our advisors, and we wish him success in the future. We remain committed to delivering services and solutions, leveraging data, analytics and artificial intelligence."

Merchant has been steadily building out a network of RIAs and wealth businesses where that data strategy can be put to work. It now backs more than 125 partner firms and RIA practices in six countries, which together manage more than $300 billion in assets.

In December, Merchant highlighted its work with Kathmere Capital Management, a suburban Philadelphia RIA that grew from about $1.8 billion in assets in 2024 to a projected $3.4 billion, a trajectory the firm attributed in part to Merchant’s capital and operating support. Before that came Merchant's partnership with Validus Capital, a $2.5 billion firm with ambitions to build "multi-family office of the future" for high-net-worth and UHNW families.