People Moves: $20B Baker Street Names a CEO
Baker Street Advisors, a registered investment advisor with $20 billion in client assets, has created a CEO role and promoted Chris Wilkens, a partner at the firm, to the position. In addition, Pete Hand, who joined the RIA in 2024 as chief investment officer, has been named a partner, joining 10 other executives.
In the new role, Wilkens will lead the firm into the next phase of growth.
Wilkens has been a partner at Baker Street since 2007. Prior to joining the RIA, he co-founded and co-managed Verity Wealth Advisors, a Sausalito, Calif.-based RIA with nearly $300 million in assets. Prior to that, he served as an institutional derivatives salesperson for about a decade.
Baker Street, founded in 2003 by Jeff Colin, was acquired by AMG Wealth Partners in 2015.
Former Beacon Pointe Exec Joins Aspen Standard as President
Kevin DiSano, the former chief growth officer at Beacon Pointe, has joined Aspen Standard Wealth, a holding company taking majority stakes in RIAs, as president.
DiSano, who has experience with distribution strategies, product design and business development, will be responsible for the firm’s organic growth efforts.
Aspen takes a majority stake in the RIAs that choose to join, and those firms maintain their brand, culture and ADVs. The RIAs that Aspen has acquired since its launch now collectively have $12 billion in AUM.
Aspen CEO Aly Kassim-Lakha, a 32-year-old former private equity investor, started the company after working for Advent International, focusing on data, software and wealth management. Through that role, he identified pain points in the industry that he felt an independent setup, with parent company support, could help solve.
$2B Sagient Hires First Chief Investment Officer
Sagient, an El Segundo, Calif.-based wealth management firm with 85 advisors across about $2 billion in assets, has hired Pete Alliegro as chief investment officer, a newly created role.
Alliegro joins from SteelPeak Wealth, where he served as director of business development. Prior to that, he was senior vice president for West Coast RIAs and family offices at Crew Enterprises.
In the position, Alliegro will report to CEO Paul Karlitz and be responsible for strengthening the firm’s investment, risk management and financial planning capabilities. He’ll also create a comprehensive review framework for high-net-worth clients, according to an announcement.
Sagient, which is affiliated with MassMutual, rebranded in 2023 from Fraser Financial Group.
Wealthspire Appoints CEO of Trust Company
Terrence (Terry) LaBant has joined Wealthspire Trust, Wealthspire’s Tennessee-chartered trust company, as president and CEO.
In the new role, LaBant will lead the firm’s operations, service model and growth strategy.
“Ultra-high-net-worth families are facing increasing levels of complexity, and Wealthspire Trust plays an important role in delivering the specialized administration and stewardship those families require,” said Mike LaMena, CEO of Wealthspire.
LaBant is the former CEO of The Trust Company of Oxford and former chief wealth planning officer and family office fellow at Oxford Financial Group. Prior to that, he served as a senior vice president and director of wealth strategy at RMB Capital.