Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based NewEdge Capital Group has named James Jesse as chief executive, betting that his background at ICONIQ Capital and Morgan Stanley will help the fast-growing RIA platform scale its ultrawealthy and advisor-focused businesses.
Jesse steps into the role as the top-ranked RIA hits its five-year mark and passes $80 billion in client assets as of Oct. 31.
The firm – which backs advisors through its multi-affiliation model platform NewEdge Advisors and NewEdge Wealth, its ultra-high-net-worth brand – is positioning the leadership change as the next phase in a multi-year push to attract elite wirehouse and independent teams.
Co-founder and managing partner Rob Sechan, who previously served as CEO said in a statement that Jesse brings “a unique combination of institutional expertise from Morgan Stanley and ICONIQ Capital, along with an entrepreneurial mindset that complements our vision for NewEdge.”
He also touted Jesse's presence on the leadership team as an opportunity to strengthen the firm’s ability to serve clients across both public and private markets.
Jesse most recently served as president of investment management and family office at Iconiq Capital – the multifamily-office firm known for overseeing the fortunes of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, among other billionaire technopreneurs – from 2017 to 2024, helping to build out a comprehensive wealth platform for technology executives and entrepreneurs. Iconiq was among a consortium of investors that provided fresh financing for RIA custodial platform startup Altruist in April this year.
Before that, Jesse spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley, rising to global head of international wealth management and overseeing operations across Europe, Asia and Latin America.
NewEdge’s founders are framing the hire as an extension of their independence pitch. “When we founded NewEdge, our goal was to create an independence-focused platform that could compete with the wirehouses on investment capabilities, while giving advisors true ownership,” said co-chairman and founder Chuck Warden. “James understands this model and will help us execute on that original vision at scale.”
The CEO appointment follows a stretch of aggressive recruiting. Last year, NewEdge reported that it surpassed its 2024 recruitment target of $9.5 billion in expected assets under management, marking the third straight year it beat its annual recruiting goal. The firm oversaw $44 billion in assets at the end of 2023 and more than $65 billion as of Nov. 30, 2024.
NewEdge officially crossed the $80 billion mark this fall, driven by key recruitment wins this year that included a $650M breakaway team from Stifel in Nebraska and a Tennessee-based Morgan Stanley advisor who joined NewEdge Wealth as managing director.
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