Team Name: Merritt Point Wealth AdvisorsFirm: Wells Fargo AdvisorsSenior Members: Jason Andrews, Beth Cutler, Ross BauerLocation: Old Greenwich, CTTeam Custodied Assets: $1.7 billionBackground: A self-described “numbers guy,” Jason Andrews studied accounting and finance at Southern New Hampshire University before starting his career at PaineWebber (later acquired by UBS) in 1999. He says he built an early private-client business the old-fashioned way: Cold calling. In October 2000 he began partnering with other brokers. In 2008, Andrews and his partners moved their book to Wachovia—just as the financial crisis was reshaping the industry. “That weekend…Wachovia actually went bankrupt,” he recalls. After a…

Team Name: The Willenbrock GroupFirm: UBS Wealth ManagementSenior Members: Tad Willenbrock, Elizabeth Willenbrock, Scott AnselLocation: Denver, COTeam Custodied Assets: $770 millionBackground: Tad Willenbrock’s introduction to wealth management came from next door. Growing up in Colorado Springs, he lived beside a Merrill Lynch advisor who told him, after Tad came home from college one day, “you’d be good at what I do.” Willenbrock says he loved the way his neighbor interacted with people—and it ultimately pushed him to interview with several firms and accept an offer from Dean Witter, a predecessor of Morgan Stanley. At Dean Witter Reynolds, the ticker symbol…

Like other value investing dinosaurs, $35 billion Hotchkis & Wiley made its name filling its funds with cheap, unloved stocks. Here’s how manager David Green is keeping the old-school philosophy alive in a market dominated by a handful of AI giants.Ina market obsessed with artificial intelligence, longtime portfolio manager David Green is leaning the other way. His $767 million Hotchkis & Wiley Value Opportunities Fund (HWAIX) has become a kind of anti-AI trade, hunting for mispriced companies, big and small, that investors have abandoned in favor of the AI boom. That contrarian stance—rooted in Hotchkis & Wiley’s 45-year value discipline—is…

November is National Entrepreneurship Month, a time to celebrate innovation and the courage it takes to start something new. Many aspiring entrepreneurs have great ideas, but taking the first steps can feel daunting – especially during such uncertain times.The Small Business Optimism Index dipped to 98.2 in October but remained above its long-term average, while the Uncertainty Index fell to its lowest level this year. With confidence stabilizing but caution still present, practical guidance is essential for entrepreneurs embarking on their business journey. The truth is, entrepreneurship can take many forms: starting something new from scratch, stepping into a franchise…

Team Name: SiRiCa Wealth Management Group Firm: Merrill Wealth Management Senior Members: Todd Silaika, Erick Richardson, Scott Calhoun, Lee Wilson, James Coker Location: Clifton Park, NY Team Custodied Assets: $3.3 billion Background: Todd Silaika took a nontraditional path to advising. Raised in Schenectady, N.Y., he worked full-time at a convention center while attending Hudson Valley Community College, then graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Albany’s business school in 1992—paying his own way through a recession. After persuading a firm executive who was visiting the convention center he worked at to give him a shot—“if you don’t ask, the answer’s always…

Team Name: Payne & Mencias Group Firm: Merrill Wealth Management Senior Members: Eric Payne, Ron Mencias Location: Indianapolis, IN Team Custodied Assets: $3.2 billion Background: Eric Payne and Ron Mencias met as young CPAs at Ernst & Young in 1997. Payne, a Butler University graduate and CPA, joined Merrill in 1999. Mencias—born and raised in Indianapolis and Notre Dame tennis alum—left EY in 1999 for PaineWebber’s training program, earned his MBA at night from Butler University, then teamed up with Payne at Merrill in 2002. Today the Payne & Mencias Group counts 16 team members serving roughly 500 families. Client…

Team Name: The Continuum Group Firm: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Senior Members: Scott Siegel, Steven Rosbash, Bill DeMatteo, Joseph Carmody, Jaynie Siegel Location: New York, NY Team Custodied Assets: $7.5 billion Background: Scott Siegel began his career in 1984 on the institutional fixed-income side before shifting to Bear Stearns in 1997 to advise high-net-worth clients. After Bear’s acquisition by JPMorgan, he led J.P. Morgan Securities while maintaining his client practice, joining Morgan Stanley in 2013 to build what is now The Continuum Group. Steven Rosbash, a former Goldman Sachs credit trader and Millennium portfolio manager, joined in 2014 and serves…

Team Name: Roseate Group Firm: Wells Fargo Advisors Senior Members: Robert Vingi, Jr., David McCallum, Howard D. Edwards, Wendy Brewer, Aaron L. Barber Location: Charleston, SC Team Custodied Assets: $3 billion Background: Founded in 2003 by Robert Vingi Jr. and Howard D. Edwards, the Roseate Group of Wells Fargo Advisors has grown into a ten-member wealth-management practice in Charleston, South Carolina. David McCallum joined the team that same year after starting his career with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), where he helped open a private-client office in Chicago. Soon after, Aaron L. Barber, joined as an analyst and portfolio manager…

Atlanta’s newest RIA firm, MartinWright Advisory, launched Monday with seven employees and a clear mission: Bringing institutional-caliber investment management to complex families—and building an advisor-led ownership model designed to last. The firm’s founders, Margaret Wright and Bradley Martin, are both in their 40s and are well-known in the city’s wealth management circles. Between them, they previously managed more than $4.5 billion in cumulative client assets at Truist and Balentine, respectively. Now, they’re betting their combined experience can anchor a new independent firm—one focused on deep customization, next-generation technology and clearly mapped advisor succession planning. MartinWright will custody with Goldman Sachs…

When Nedra Agnew was working in the U.S. foreign service, her trajectory seemed clear: she was on a path that could one day have led to an ambassadorship. Then, in the early 2000s, her partner at the time was a financial advisor and was looking for a trainee with a CFP to join his team. She wasn’t looking for another job at the time, but Agnew specialized in administrative work, crisis management and dealing with people. “I remember having the thought, there’s no reason why I can’t be successful in this career,” she recalls. She took a meeting with a…