While Ameriprise unveiled strong results for the second quarter yesterday, the firm also saw a number of key departures this week, including one East Coast team that broke away and another exec being lured to join a $1.5 billion RIA's leadership in Virginia.
A team of five former Ameriprise advisors has launched Laurel Oak Wealth Management, an RIA based in New Jersey, marking another move toward independence among experienced advisors.
The group, which previously oversaw more than $2.3 billion in client assets, includes Christopher Heiser, Robert Andreacchio, Louis LaSelva, Matthew Fitzgerald, and Keith Radimer. Together, they bring more than one hundred thirty-five years of experience to their new venture, aiming to deliver personalized financial planning and investment management to clients across the country.
“Our goal in launching Laurel Oak was to create a firm where advice is personal, communication is clear, and clients always come first,” Heiser, a founding partner, said in the Thursday statement announcing the firm's launch. “As an independent RIA, we now have the flexibility to tailor strategies without the limitations of a corporate agenda.”
The team’s approach emphasizes customized strategies for retirement planning, legacy preservation, and complex financial transitions. LaSelva added, “Our growth has always been rooted in one principle: showing up for people when it matters most. Laurel Oak represents that mindset at scale.”
The move comes as Ameriprise Financial continues to report strong results, with the company’s advice and wealth management business seeing a six percent year-over-year increase in net revenue and client assets rising to $1.08 trillion, according to Barron's. While Ameriprise no longer discloses advisor head count, CEO Jim Cracchiolo noted that the firm’s net advisor count had increased, and that advisor productivity reached record levels.
“We feel good about our pipeline,” Cracchiolo said, per Barron's. “We continue to recruit out in the environment more broadly.”
Elsewhere, 49 Financial, a Texas-based firm with $1.5 billion in assets under advisement, announced the hiring of Scott Neils as executive vice president, growth and head of field.
Neils spent sixteen years at Ameriprise in roles spanning business development and field sales. Most recently, he oversaw a team that supported 350 advisors representing $40 billion in assets.
In the newly created EVP role, Neils will focus on developing organic growth strategies for the firm’s more than 150 advisors, including developing new advisors' relationship management skills, product knowledge, and sales.
“49 Financial has created a terrific platform that specializes in attracting, training, retaining, and growing next-generation financial advisors by hiring graduates straight out of college and teaming them with seasoned professionals,” said Neils, a wealth industry veteran whose 19-year BrokerCheck record also includes stints at Merrill Lynch and Wachovia. “It’s an exciting approach that appeals to advisors at all stages of their careers.”
Schwab's most recent RIA benchmarking report puts a fine point to the industry's talent pipeline crunch, with one headline finding pointing to a deficit of 70,000 new hires in the next five years unless something changes.
Centurion Wealth Management also expanded its footprint in Virginia earlier this week, acquiring Metrics Money Management.
Dennis Campbell, founder of Metrics, will join Centurion, bringing his clients access to expanded resources and enhanced tax planning options.
“Following a few years of conversations with Dennis, we are thrilled to welcome him and his clients to Centurion,” said Sterling Neblett, CEO and co-founder of Centurion.
The move comes shortly after notable groowth within Centurion's tax department. The firm manages just above $580 million in regulatory assets under management, according to its latest Form ADV as of May 27.
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