Wirehouse moves: JPMorgan taps Merrill veteran for Southeast role as BofA beefs up OCIO team

JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America announced additions to their wealth management leadership this week, with J.P. Morgan's wealth unit hiring a former Merrill Lynch executive to run its Southeast advisor force, and Bank of America adding nonprofit specialists to its outsourced chief investment officer business in New York.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management announced that Linda Patel has joined J.P. Morgan Advisors, the firm’s boutique unit for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutions, as Southeast regional director.

Patel will work from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and oversee market executives and approximately 80 financial advisors across Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Miami and Atlanta.

She reports to Mollie Colavita, who took over J.P. Morgan Advisors after Phil Sieg’s retirement last year. Patel succeeds Janet Sweeney, the previous regional director, who retired earlier this year.

Patel was most recently a regional managing director at Merrill Lynch Private Wealth, where she was responsible for the private wealth, institutional and international businesses. She has more than 25 years in the industry. She started at PaineWebber in 1998 and came to Merrill through Advest, one of its predecessor firms. She holds a BBA in international business management from Pace University.

“Linda is an exceptional leader with deep experience in private wealth. Her appointment builds on our strong leadership and momentum in one of the most important markets for our business,” Colavita said.

Citing the latest IRS data, J.P. Morgan said Florida has gained more than $20 billion in adjusted gross income from interstate migration, the largest net gain of any state. In contrast, Georgia gained $4.2 billion in net income from domestic migration between 2018 and 2023.

“The Southeast continues to attract individuals, families and businesses with increasingly complex financial needs – creating significant opportunity for us to build on our strength in the region and grow alongside our clients. Linda’s track record of leading and developing advisor teams makes her the right person to help us continue capturing that opportunity,” Colavita said.

Bank of America expands its nonprofit OCIO team

Bank of America has added to its OCIO team in New York, addressing what the bank says is a growing need for help among nonprofits facing issues around portfolio strategy, governance and organizational issues.

Tiffany Kuehner joins from J.P. Morgan Private Bank as a philanthropic executive. A former nonprofit executive and board leader, Kuehner has advised individuals, families and mission-driven organizations on wealth management and philanthropy. She is an emeritus board member and former board chair of Hope for Haiti.

Meanwhile, Mark Fitzgerald – who joined Bank of America in 2019 as an institutional client advisor – has moved into a new role as endowment and foundation specialist. He brings decades of institutional experience to his new role, including 14 years at Commonfund.

Over the past two years, Bank of America says its OCIO business has raised more than $18 billion in new assets and added approximately 150 nonprofit relationships, all without acquisitions. It currently oversees more than $100 billion in discretionary assets for foundations and endowments. One ranking by the independent Chestnut Solutions Institute recently identified it as the largest global OCIO provider to nonprofits.