By Andrew Welsch

For wealth management professionals, 2024 was a busy year. M&A activity among registered investment advisors set a record. Markets reached new heights. And more than a few firms have new leadership going into the new year.

In what has become an annual tradition to help advisors keep their fingers on the pulse on the business, Barron's Advisor has identified newsmakers poised to make waves in 2025. The list is in alphabetical order and is by no means exhaustive. We encourage readers to add their suggestions in the comments section below. To see last year's picks, please click here.

Paul Atkins, nominee to serve as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Wealth management professionals can expect big changes under President-elect Trump's pick to lead the SEC. Atkins likely will take a different approach than current Chair Gary Gensler, who has tightened regulations during his tenure. In a previous stint as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, Atkins was critical of large regulatory penalties levied against public companies. He is also expected to change the SEC's stance toward cryptocurrencies. As SEC chair, he would enter the job with considerable experience. His time at the regulator also included a stint as a counselor to the chair at the time, Arthur Levitt. Atkins currently serves as CEO and founder of compliance consulting firm Patomak Global Partners. He also serves as co-chair of the Token Alliance, an initiative of the crypto lobbying group the Chamber of Digital Commerce.

Mike Durbin, CEO of Cetera Holdings: Since Durbin joined Cetera in May 2023, the wealth management company has made several acquisitions and added thousands more financial advisors to its ranks. Expect more from Durbin and Cetera in 2025. For starters, private-equity backed Genstar reinvested in Cetera in 2023. That gave the company more capital and more time to execute its strategy. Cetera also has benefited from continued consolidation in the industry. For example, it agreed in October to buy Concourse Financial Group Securities, a wealth management unit of insurance company Protective Life, which, like other insurers, has sought to unload their wealth management businesses.

Cetera now has approximately 12,000 financial advisors and more than $545 billion in assets under administration. Durbin has said the company isn't just adding scale but also more capabilities through its acquisitions. Durbin's executive team is also changing. Longtime Cetera executive Adam Antoniades will retire on Dec. 31. Separately, the company appointed Todd Mackay as president of Cetera Wealth Management, succeeding Tom Taylor, who is retiring. And former Northwestern Mutual executive Christian Mitchell recently joined the company as president of Cetera Solutions.

Shannon Eusey, CEO of Beacon Pointe Advisors: In the competitive field of RIA M&A, Eusey's Beacon Pointe is one of the standouts. The Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm has completed dozens of acquisitions since 2011 and seven deals in 2024 alone. Among its most recent acquisitions was a Minnesota-based RIA overseeing $1 billion. Those deals have helped boost Beacon Pointe's assets under administration to $40 billion. The company sold a minority stake to private-equity firm KKR in 2021. Eusey has previously told Barron's Advisor that the additional capital is helping her firm expand to new markets and achieve greater scale.

Sheena Gray, CEO of the Association of African American Financial Advisors: Gray took over as chief executive of the 2,500-member association in September. The group, also known as Quad-A, strives to promote diversity and the professional development of Black and African-American professionals in the wealth management industry. It's a tall order given that the industry is overwhelmingly white and male. About 75% of Certified Financial Planners are men, according to the CFP Board. A mere 2% of CFPs are Black or African-American. Gray and other members of Quad-A hope to change that and help more people find a place within the industry and thrive.

Karl Heckenberg, president of Constellation Wealth Capital: Since leaving Emigrant Partners, where he served as CEO, Heckenberg founded his own investment platform, Constellation Wealth Partners. Constellation already has taken stakes in several RIAs, including AlTi Global, Cresset Asset Management, and Los Angeles-based Lido Advisors, which has more than $24 billion in assets. Earlier this month, Heckenberg revealed that Constellation raised more than $1 billion in its inaugural fund. The firm has generally taken minority stakes. RIAs can probably expect more dealmaking in 2025.

Salim Ramji, CEO of Vanguard: Ramji has been Vanguard's chief for only a few months, but he's already putting his mark on the asset-management company. He has signaled a push into active management, particularly in fixed income, where Vanguard tends to manage its own funds and rely on in-house expertise. The company also recently created a new advice and wealth management division and hired former Fidelity executive Joanna Rotenberg to lead it.

The moves indicate Ramji is placing greater emphasis on providing advice to investors. Given the company's history of disrupting the fund business, wealth management professionals might want to keep an eye on Vanguard as Ramji's plans take shape in 2025.

Rich Steinmeier, CEO of LPL Financial: It may be safe to assume that Steinmeier didn't expect to become chief executive officer of LPL so soon. But after the unexpected termination of CEO Dan Arnold in October, the company's board of directors turned to the long-serving chief growth officer to take the helm.

In his new role, Steinmeier will oversee a fast-expanding enterprise that has added new affiliation options for advisors in recent years. Top of the agenda may be integrating the company's most recent acquisition, Atria Wealth Solutions, which has approximately 2,400 advisors and provides back-office and other support to 150 banks and credit unions. LPL's aggressive recruiting and acquisitions have pushed its head count to more than 28,000 advisors. It has about $1.7 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets.

Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood Markets: The brokerage firm is already popular with millions of retail investors thanks to its commission-free trading app. But advisors have new reasons to pay attention to Robinhood now that it is acquiring TradePMR. The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2025, gives Robinhood a foothold in the RIA custody business and puts it in more direct competition with legacy firms such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity, both of which cater to retail investors and independent financial advisors.

TradePMR provides custody, technology, and portfolio management services to about 350 financial advisory firms and has $40 billion in assets. Robinhood hopes to build off that base and drum up more business with RIAs as well as with retail investors who want both a self-directed account and financial advice. Robinhood has a record of disrupting the brokerage business. It may move more slowly in RIA custody given the complexities involved, but next year likely will yield signs of where Robinhood intends to take the business.

Natalie Wolfsen, CEO of Orion: Since becoming CEO of Orion in 2023, Wolfsen has been putting her mark on the company, which provides advisors with technology, a turnkey asset-management program, and other services. This month, Orion said it would acquire Summit Wealth Systems, which provides client reporting and portfolio management software to RIAs. The deal, expected to close in early 2025, will help expand Orion's services for RIAs. The company competes with many other RIA-tech providers, including custodians such as Fidelity as well as AssetMark, where Wolfsen previously served as CEO. Orion says it services approximately $4.7 trillion in assets under administration.

Rick Wurster, incoming CEO of Charles Schwab: Advisors always have good reason to follow the goings on at Charles Schwab. It is, after all, the largest custodian of RIA assets by a country mile. But next year will be Wurster's first as chief executive, and advisors will want to see where he intends to lead the $10 trillion wealth management company. Wurster succeeds Walt Bettinger, who has served as CEO since 2008 and overseen rapid growth at Schwab, on both the retail and RIA sides of the company.

Wurster has indicated that Schwab can grow its already dominant position in the RIA custody business. In an interview with Barron's Advisor in November, he emphasized its importance. "The advisor services business is a critical part of our company and our growth," he said. "It represents half of our assets and more than that in terms of our net new assets."

Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com

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December 30, 2024 09:56 ET (14:56 GMT)

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