Three independent wealth management firms have announced leadership changes, reflecting ongoing shifts in the industry as firms scale and plan for succession. Carnegie Investment Counsel, which oversees $7 billion in assets, has promoted Ben Connard to chief investment officer. The move, announced Monday, follows Connard's arrival at the firm just over a year ago when Carnegie expanded into Stamford, Connecticut.
Richard Alt, Carnegie's chief executive, said in a statement that Connard was identified as a potential successor to the CIO role during that expansion. After a year on the investment committee, Alt expressed confidence in Connard's ability to lead the investment team. The promotion aims to enhance coordination across Carnegie's 10 U.S. offices and reinforce its investment philosophy centered on bottom-up fundamental analysis and long-term portfolio construction.
Connard previously spent nine years as a partner and portfolio manager at Eagle Ridge Investment Management and 11 years as an analyst at Laidlaw Group. He emphasized that his goal as CIO is to ensure consistent, long-term outcomes for clients across the firm. Carnegie confirmed that existing client relationships will not be affected by the change.
In a separate move, Wilde Wealth Management Group, one of the largest firms in the Cetera Advisors community with approximately $5.75 billion in assets under administration, has named Erica Bloudek as its chief operating officer. The firm, based in the Southwest and operating across nine locations with 56 advisors, brought in Bloudek to build the operational infrastructure needed to support its growth ambitions. Cetera took a strategic minority stake in Wilde Wealth in January 2024 and highlighted the appointment as part of a broader commitment to helping firms scale with disciplined infrastructure.
Bloudek joins Wilde Wealth from Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, an Arax Investment Partners company, where she also served as COO. Prior to that, she spent 18 years with Wells Fargo and its affiliated entities. In her new role, she will oversee advisor and client onboarding, marketing communications, workflow management, and strategic planning. The hire underscores a trend of independent broker-dealer networks directing resources into operational and compliance infrastructure at the firm level, similar to moves by Raymond James and Independent Financial Group.
Meanwhile, in Houston, Willis Johnson Wealth has announced an internal succession, appointing Nick Johnson as chief executive while he retains his role as chief investment officer. Willis Johnson, the firm's founder and outgoing CEO, moves into an executive chairman position. The firm has grown to $1.8 billion in assets under management and recently rebranded after 30 years operating as Willis Johnson & Associates. It focuses on serving employees of major energy companies including Shell, Chevron, Dow, and BP.
Nick Johnson has expanded the firm's service offerings to include tax preparation and private market investments, and launched a rotational program to develop younger financial planning professionals. Willis Johnson, who founded the firm in 1996, expressed confidence in the next generation of leadership, noting that the firm has grown exponentially over the last decade. The succession reflects a broader trend of multigenerational transitions in the wealth management industry.
For more on similar moves, see Hightower lifts a Texas team with $850M in client assets and Beyond AUM: Why Advisory Firms Must Prioritize Durability Over Scale to Survive.
