Ballast Rock Private Wealth, a Charleston, S.C.-based registered investment advisor with $400 million in assets under management, has hired Deann Cross from Integrity Financial Corporation. Cross spent almost 20 years at Integrity Financial, holding leadership and advisory roles across investment management, financial planning, and client service.
At Ballast Rock, Cross will work as a senior wealth advisor, focusing on investment strategy, financial planning, and wealth objectives for clients. She will also bring expertise in multi-generational planning to the firm, supporting individuals, families, and business owners.
The firm believes Cross’s background in advising business owners, helping families handle wealth transitions across generations, and developing new advisor talent will play a key role in its expansion plans. Andrew Mescon, CEO of Ballast Rock Private Wealth, emphasized that her skills in these areas will be essential to the company’s future growth.
Cross began her career as a loan officer at Washington Mutual in Seattle before joining Integrity Financial. She decided to join Ballast Rock Private Wealth because of its dedication to offering tailored, high-level wealth management services.
Meanwhile, senior UBS leaders Mara Glassel and Julie Fox will be joining &Partners, a St. Louis-based hybrid broker/dealer, as equity partners and members of the executive team. Glassel and Fox will co-lead &Partners’ ultra-high-net-worth and private wealth businesses after a combined 52 years at UBS.
&Partners, founded in 2023, now oversees 130 advisor teams and approximately $65 billion in client assets. Co-founder David Kowach, who previously led Wells Fargo Advisors, stated that Glassel and Fox understand how to serve elite clients and support top advisors, choosing independence to create something impactful.
Glassel spent 28 years at UBS, most recently overseeing 18 offices in the New York metropolitan area. Fox worked at UBS for 24 years, previously managing wealth management operations across 15 states in the Southeast before joining &Partners.
TD Bank U.S. has appointed Hardeep Walia to head its wealth management operations in the United States. Walia founded and ran Motif, a brokerage platform that offered investors portfolios of stocks around business themes, until Schwab acquired it in 2020. Following that deal, Walia built and led Schwab’s Personalized Investing Engineering organization and later led enterprise AI.
MAI Capital Management has named Matt Barthel, a former Barron’s editor, as a managing partner responsible for recruiting financial advisors. Barthel will lead the firm’s strategy for acquiring advisor practices to support its national expansion efforts.
Barthel will report directly to Managing Partner Jim Kacic and work alongside the firm’s business development team, with a focus on advisor lift-outs. He will leverage his experience and network to drive growth and recruitment. EP Wealth Advisors has brought on Seth Davis from Curi RMB Capital as a senior wealth advisor.
Based in Denver, he will provide wealth management strategies supported by EP Wealth’s planning, investment, and tax services. Davis previously helped establish financial planning standards and mentor younger advisors during his 15-year tenure at Curi.