JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have both made leadership moves in their wealth management divisions this week, signaling continued competition for experienced talent and a focus on high-growth client segments.
J.P. Morgan Wealth Management announced that Linda Patel has joined J.P. Morgan Advisors, its boutique unit serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutions, as Southeast regional director. Patel will be based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and will oversee market executives and roughly 80 financial advisors across Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Miami, and Atlanta.
Patel reports to Mollie Colavita, who took over J.P. Morgan Advisors after Phil Sieg's retirement last year. Patel succeeds Janet Sweeney, the previous regional director, who retired earlier this year. Patel was most recently a regional managing director at Merrill Lynch Private Wealth, where she oversaw private wealth, institutional, and international businesses. She has more than 25 years in the industry, starting at PaineWebber in 1998 and coming to Merrill through Advest, one of its predecessor firms. She holds a BBA in international business management from Pace University.
“Linda is an exceptional leader with deep experience in private wealth. Her appointment builds on our strong leadership and momentum in one of the most important markets for our business,” Colavita said. Citing the latest IRS data, J.P. Morgan noted that Florida has gained more than $20 billion in adjusted gross income from interstate migration, the largest net gain of any state. In contrast, Georgia gained $4.2 billion in net income from domestic migration between 2018 and 2023.
“The Southeast continues to attract individuals, families and businesses with increasingly complex financial needs – creating significant opportunity for us to build on our strength in the region and grow alongside our clients. Linda’s track record of leading and developing advisor teams makes her the right person to help us continue capturing that opportunity,” Colavita added.
Meanwhile, Bank of America has added to its outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) team in New York, addressing what the bank says is a growing need among nonprofits facing issues around portfolio strategy, governance, and organizational challenges. Tiffany Kuehner joins from J.P. Morgan Private Bank as a philanthropic executive. A former nonprofit executive and board leader, Kuehner has advised individuals, families, and mission-driven organizations on wealth management and philanthropy. She is an emeritus board member and former board chair of Hope for Haiti.
Mark Fitzgerald, who joined Bank of America in 2019 as an institutional client advisor, has moved into a new role as endowment and foundation specialist. He brings decades of institutional experience, including 14 years at Commonfund. Over the past two years, Bank of America says its OCIO business has raised more than $18 billion in new assets and added approximately 150 nonprofit relationships, all without acquisitions. It currently oversees more than $100 billion in discretionary assets for foundations and endowments. One ranking by the independent Chestnut Solutions Institute recently identified it as the largest global OCIO provider to nonprofits.
These moves come as wirehouses face rising advisor attrition and shifting retention strategies, as noted in recent industry reports. The competition for experienced leaders like Patel underscores the importance of key markets and specialized client segments. For more on advisor moves, see LPL, Raymond James, RBC recruit $1.6B and Merrill, Raymond James, UBS, Prime Capital recruit advisors managing $1.2B.
