Former Invesco, Merrill veteran joins $17B RIA to lead marketing

An Atlanta based RIA had hired an industry veteran to head up its marketing efforts to drive growth.

The $17 billion AUM Homrich Berg’s new chief marketing officer is a former Merrill Lynch digital marketing strategist Joanna Irwin, who also spent a decade at Invesco as CMO for North America and has most recently been global CMO for talent firm Randstad.

“I’m energized to be at a people- and client-first company. HB has done an excellent job building a strong reputation and growing organically, and it’s in a prime position for continued growth,” said Irwin. “We have a great opportunity to leverage increased digital marketing and broader brand-building efforts as the fuel to take HB to the next level.”

She frees up principal Bill Bolen, CFP, CFA, to focus on client service as a wealth advisor in the HB Family Office division having been in the CMO role alongside his advisor duties.

“We appreciate the strong industry-leading organic growth strategy that Bill has helped build at HB over the past decade and are pleased to see him now be able to focus full-time on serving our family office clients,” said Thomas Carroll, CEO of Homrich Berg. “We are excited to now add Joanna to our leadership team as a talented veteran marketing executive with the right mix of traditional and digital marketing experience to lead us into the next 35 years of our firm growth story.”

HB has seen industry-leading organic and acquisitive growth in recent years, and with Irwin driving marketing initiatives the firm expects to expand its brand awareness efforts in multiple markets.

The firm has seen several senior leadership appointments in the past year including Carroll’s appointment as chief executive officer in September 2023 after four years with the firm and succeeding founder Andy Berg who remains as chair.  

In April 2024, Michael A. Woocher was appointed as principal and chief advisory officer, joining from Bernstein Private Wealth Management, where he led the Atlanta office as managing director and wealth advisor.