Advisors on the Move: Expanding Horizons

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company expanded and snagged professionals away from Wells Fargo Advisors on Thursday to work for two new branches in Abilene, Kansas and Canton, Ohio. New Managing Director Patti O’Malley, along with Associate Vice President Jeff Hoover joined the Abilene office. In Canton, Thomas J. Addessi and Michael Rosso joined as vice presidents of investments, while Timothy Dvorak, signed on as a financial consultant and Kellie Westren as a senior financial associate.

Securities America brought back two financial advisors Shannon Case and Mark Slattery. The team was previously with Securities America for over ten years; however, in 2006 they moved to Wisconsin to join SII Investments and later founded their partnership: CaseSlattery Wealth Partners in Omaha, Nebraska .

Industry veteran, David Atwell became an advisor for Creekside Financial Advisors in Cleveland, OH this past Wednesday. Atwell has been working in the industry for 25 years including his time at Smith Barney/Morgan Stanley.

Active Santa Barbara community member Suzi Schomer, was hired earlier this week, as the vice president and business development officer for the wealth management division of Montecito Bank &Trust.

Last Thursday, Christian Widen was named managing director and head of corporate development for U.S. Wealth Management, a firm supporting an independent network of advisors. Widen will be rejoining U.S. Wealth Management from Pershing Advisor Solutions.

Prospera Financial Services captured two new independent firms Bishoff Financial Group and Matthews Financial Services to join their independent advisory network last Wednesday. Bishoff Financial Group was founded by Eric Bishoff and is located in Worthington, Ohio. Rhonda Matthews’ firm is located in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining Prospera, Rhonda Matthews was most recently part of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network.

Raymond James snagged Cynthia Woodsmall Jones and Brenda Meadows away from Morgan Stanley late last week. Jones will be the new senior vice president of investments for Raymond James’ Columbus, Ga. branch and Meadows is a registered sales associate.

The Advisor Center, an online recruiting platform for financial advisors, successfully guided multiple transitions last week. Wells Fargo Advisor Financial Network, with the help of the Advisor Center, lured away Glenview, Illinois based Morgan Stanley duo Maureen McPeek and Ralph Lynch Jr. to join their independent brokerage network. The Advisor Center also helped Boca Raton, Fla. based Summit Brokerage Services grab Russell Vann IV and Eric Zebrauskas. Prior to joining Summit, Vann was affiliated with MML Investors Services and Zebrauskas with Securities Services Network.

Early last week, Hillard Lyons welcomed two new financial consultants Kevin Lyall and David Havens to their year-old Winston-Salem, N.C. branch. Lyall and Havens both were most recently at UBS.