Wealthtech consultancy F2 Strategy announced an executive shuffle this week.
Co-founder and CEO Doug Fritz, who has led the firm since its start in 2016, is moving into the role of executive chairman and longtime Orion executive Ryan Beach has been appointed CEO. In his new role, Fritz will focus his efforts on strategic initiatives and working hands-on with clients.
“We’ve already exceeded our aggressive growth targets, and Ryan has the exact experience we need to help fuel the next stage of our evolution,” Fritz wrote in the prepared statement announcing the changes.
In total, Beach spent almost 13 years in various executive leadership roles at Orion in both technology and wealth management and oversaw many of the firm’s M&A initiatives. He most recently served as president of Orion Wealth Management and previously had been chief operating officer for both it and the Orion Advisor Technology unit.
His recruitment is the latest addition to F2’s expanded C-suite roster. Laura Korbel joined the firm as its first president in August 2023, and Jay Halbert moved into the newly created role of chief financial officer in April of this year.
Headquartered in Chicago, F2 has grown to more than 100 employees, built a network of more than 3,600 consultants worldwide, and claims a client base with more than $3.8 trillion in assets under management.
In February, F2 acquired SKY Marketing Consultants, a full-service marketing company that also served wealth management firms and their advisors.
SKY’s co-founder, Jeremy Jackson, moved into the role of F2 chief marketing officer, while co-founder Liz Fritz, who had held the role, joined F2’s board and has continued to work on strategic growth initiatives.
Much of F2’s headcount growth occurred in June 2023 with its acquisition of 75-employee Oakbrook Solutions, another consultancy serving wealth managers. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, F2 simultaneously announced that private equity firm Renovus Capital Partners had taken a majority stake in the firm and helped facilitate Oakbrook’s acquisition.
Husband and wife team Doug and Liz Fritz founded F2 after years of working in wealth management for major banks. Doug Fritz spent two decades in wealth management, ultimately serving as chief technology officer at Wells Fargo and First Republic’s private banking arms. He has also served as a judge for the annual WealthManagement.com Industry Awards and as a regular contributor to the publication. Liz Fritz led marketing for the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth segments at Bank of the West Wealth Management, Wells Fargo Abbot Downing and Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank before co-founding the consultancy.
