Mesirow names CIBC Bank USA chief Shawn Beber as its next CEO

Mesirow has named Shawn Beber its next CEO, choosing the head of CIBC Bank USA to lead the Chicago-based, employee-owned financial services firm as it moves deeper into wealth management and retirement plan services through a series of acquisitions and senior hires.

Mesirow’s board of directors voted unanimously for the appointment after an extensive search, the firm said in its Tuesday announcement. 

Beber is taking over the CEO role from Richard S. Price, who will stay on as executive chairman focusing on organizational strategy and the firm’s civic and community work.

Beber spent more than two decades at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, holding senior roles in U.S. commercial banking and wealth management, risk management, legal, and strategy and corporate development. He most recently served as president and CEO of CIBC Bank USA. Mesirow said he played a crucial part in building CIBC’s U.S. footprint, including the Canada-based lender’s $5 billion purchase of The PrivateBank in 2017.

“Shawn has proven to be an extraordinary leader with the experience, judgment and ability to bring people together to serve clients and grow businesses,” Price said.

“As CEO, Shawn will bring a fresh perspective to the firm’s leadership team while preserving the long-term focus and principles that have guided Mesirow throughout its 90-year history,” he said.

Beber pointed to the firm’s culture, pointing to "its entrepreneurial spirit and a deep commitment to its clients."

He takes over a firm with $410.3 billion in assets under supervision as of Sept. 30. Mesirow has said it plans to keep growing through strategic acquisitions, organic expansion and investment in specialist capabilities.

Read more: Mesirow eyes organic growth, new products with strategy leader appointment

Much of the recent dealmaking has centered on workplace retirement plans. In July, Mesirow closed its acquisition of LeafHouse Financial Advisors, which now operates as Precision Fiduciary Partners. A month later, its Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions unit agreed to buy the plan-level 3(38) investment management business of flexPATH Strategies in a deal that was completed in late October.

"By expanding the availability of our fiduciary solutions across the retirement ecosystem, we are strengthening our ability to support advisors, plan sponsors and industry partners with the services and expertise they value most,” Ketan Shah, chief strategy officer and General Counsel at Mesirow said in a written statement last month.

A 3(38) fiduciary, named for the section of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that defines the role, takes discretionary control of a plan’s investment decisions, shifting that liability away from plan sponsors and their advisors. Mesirow’s outsourced fiduciary platform, which also provides 3(21) investment lineup services, oversaw approximately $164 billion in combined assets as of June 30, supporting roughly 10,000 advisors nationwide.

Read more: Why retirement plan advisers should act as 3(38) investment fiduciaries

Mesirow Wealth Management, the firm’s registered investment advisor arm, has also been adding talent. In October, it hired Paul Arnold, previously global head of multi-asset research at Morningstar Investment Management, as managing director and head of investment solutions, a newly created post overseeing asset allocation, manager research and portfolio construction. 

The division also added wealth advisor Mark K. Nichol in September under its Empowered Advisor initiative, which targets experienced advisors seeking open-architecture resources and greater flexibility.

Mesirow Wealth Management had approximately $14 billion in assets under management and advisement as of March 31.