narayan
Concurrent Stakes Former Merrill Advisor to Launch RIA
Concurrent Investment Advisors, a hybrid registered investment advisor with a 1099 affiliation model, has provided a minority stake to a former Merrill Lynch advisor to help him start his own firm on its platform, Montesa Wealth Management.
Adolfo (A.J.) John Montesa has launched his new firm in High Point, N.C., according to Concurrent and regulatory filings. The firm is bringing $158.8 million to Concurrent.
Montesa joins a Concurrent platform that has grown to over $17 billion in AUM and about $16 billion under advisement. Of the more than 70 firms in its network, the majority have a minority investment from Concurrent. The RIA platform also launched a minority investment program for external firms last year.
“Concurrent’s investment in Montesa Wealth Management reflects the continued growth of firms joining our platform,” Joe Mooney, managing director and head of business development at Concurrent, wrote in an email. “A.J. has been serving clients for over two decades, and with the technology, investment options, and capital support we provide, he will be well-positioned to push forward on his entrepreneurial goals and strong vision for growing his RIA business.”
Montesa had been with Bank of America’s Merrill for over 11 years and had also been an advisor with Wells Fargo and Ameriprise.
Sanctuary Adds Former Merrill Advisor to Platform
Sanctuary Wealth, an Indianapolis-based hybrid RIA with $55 billion in client assets, has brought on Chicago-area Merrill advisor Kyle Vasel to launch his RIA, Opt Wealth Management. Vasel had overseen $260 million in client assets at Bank of America’s Merrill.
Vasel made the move after having spent his career as an advisor at Merrill, dating back to 2011. He was most recently a senior vice president and senior financial advisor.
“I feel strongly that to provide meaningful advice to my clients, I need the flexibility to discuss a full range of options and strategies to help them achieve their goals,” Vasel said in a statement. “With Sanctuary, I’ve found the technology, support systems and investment solutions to help me enhance my offering, along with a culture that supports my approach to service. Our shared wirehouse background meant there was immediate alignment in how we think about serving clients and building a business.”
Sanctuary was founded by former Merrill advisor Jim Dickson in 2018, and its president, Vince Fertitta, is also a Merrill alum. Dickson left in 2023 and then launched minority RIA investment firm Elevation Point in June 2024.
“Kyle built an impressive business over 15 years in the wirehouse channel, but he also understood the limitations that come with that model,” Fertitta said in a statement. “After more than two years of careful due diligence, he chose Sanctuary’s partnered independence platform as the best path to the flexibility, ownership and freedom he was seeking.”
The name OPT refers to organization, profits, and taxes.
In February, Sanctuary hired Marissa Fox-Foley, former chief marketing and communications officer at Choreo, as its CMO. In the new role, she leads the firm’s enterprise marketing strategy and organization.
Merit Deals for Another Commonwealth Team
Merit Financial Advisors, an acquisitive Atlanta-based financial advisory overseeing $25 billion in client assets, has made its fifth acquisition of 2026 by bringing on Strategic Retirement Plans, a former Commonwealth Financial Network advisory headquartered in Billings, Montana, with another office in Gillette, Wyoming.
SRP manages about $586 million in client assets, including $4 million in retirement plan assets under advisement, and works with about 800 households. The team is leaving Commonwealth a little over a year after LPL Financial announced it was acquiring the independent broker/dealer.
Merit has been one of the most active RIA aggregators in landing Commonwealth teams. The RIA has added teams overseeing more than $3 billion in total client assets from 2025 through the most recent SRP acquisition. It also poached Commonwealth’s head of RIA solutions, Alex Hansen, in November 2025, naming him chief advisor success officer.
SRP owners and financial advisors Gabe Lapito and Ryan Gomendi will join Merit as area directors, wealth managers and partners, with the firm taking on the Merit name. The duo has built their practice with a focus on retirement income planning for families and business owners, including workers in the Montana and Wyoming energy sector.
Merit received a minority investment from Constellation Wealth Capital in July 2025, which the investment firm acquired from Wealth Partners Capital Group and a group of investors led by HGGC’s Aspire Holdings, which had invested in Merit in 2019.
Prudential Advisors Adds Advisors Overseeing $300M
Prudential Advisors, the retail arm of Prudential Financial that oversees about $60 billion in assets, has brought on financial advisors from RBC Wealth Management and Synovus Securities, along with their more than $300 million in client assets.
Keith Loegering has joined Prudential’s Pacific Financial Group after a career with RBC and, before that, Merrill Lynch. Loegering will open an office in San Rafael, Calif.
Separately, Brian Montalbano left Synovus to join Prudeitnials’ Greater Florida Financial Group to open a new office in Port Charlotte, Fla.
The advisors join a group of over 3,000 financial advisors operating on the LPL Financial platform.
In February 2025, Prudential promoted former sales and business development lead Pat Hynes to president of its advisory division, partly to bolster its fee-based advisory division.
“Building on the momentum we saw last year, we continue to bring well-established, successful advisors to Prudential Advisors,” Hynes said in a statement. “Keith and Brian were both looking for the high level of service, support and independent flexibility that defines our operating model and culture.”
Prudential’s total business, including insurance and retirement offerings such as annuities, has about $1.6 trillion in AUM across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
RFG Advisory Platform Adds Former Cetera Advisors Overseeing $230M
RFG Advisory, the Birmingham, Ala.-based hybrid RIA platform with more than $7.5 billion in client assets, has added another RIA to its platform: Pierson Wealth Management, run by Ivy Pierson.
Pierson makes the move from Cetera after having been with the independent broker/dealer for over five years. She has been an advisor with broker/dealers and wirehouses, including LPL Financial and Morgan Stanley, since 2000, according to BrokerCheck.
The advisor is bringing more than $230 million in client assets to the RFG platform, where she will continue to use a “planning-led approach” with clients, according to an announcement.
“I wanted the freedom to build a business that reflects my values and allows me to truly tailor the experience for each client,” Pierson said in a statement. “RFG stood out because it offers the right combination of independence, technology and support. I can maintain ownership of my business while gaining the infrastructure and partnership needed to grow.”
In March, RFG announced it had added independent RIA Black Oak Asset Management to its platform, and soon after, it made its first majority acquisition of a platform RIA. President Ed Swenson clarified that the majority stake is not a new strategy play but a circumstance in which RFG could meet the needs of one of its platform wealth managers.
admin
