OpenArc Corporate Advisory has appointed Kevin Crain, a former senior retirement executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as a strategic consultant. The Atlanta-based registered investment advisor made the move as it continues to build its leadership team following its historic departure from the wirehouse in early 2024.
Crain spent nearly two decades at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, rising through progressively senior roles in the retirement services division. He ultimately served as head of retirement research, overseeing studies such as Workplace Benefits, Participant Pulse, and Financial Life Benefits Impact. Before that, he led the firm's institutional retirement business, which served more than 1,500 corporate clients representing roughly five million employees across 401(k), defined benefit, equity compensation, non-qualified deferred compensation, and health savings products. He left Bank of America in August 2023.
In addition to his new role at OpenArc, Crain serves as executive director of the Institutional Retirement Income Council and as a senior advisor with McKinsey and the Milken Institute. He is also an honorary member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association and sits on its public policy committee.
At OpenArc, Crain will focus on strategic growth, market positioning, and a research program centered on the convergence of corporate benefits, personal wealth, and family financial wellbeing. "What OpenArc is building is not incremental. It is transformative," Crain said. "This industry has long needed a model defined by true independence, full integration, and a commitment to serving every employee, not just a subset."
OpenArc's breakaway from Merrill Lynch was the largest in brokerage industry history. Before the move, the firm oversaw approximately $129 billion in assets at Merrill. Dynasty holds a minority equity stake in OpenArc, with Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney on its board, and Charles Schwab serves as a custodian. Since the breakaway, OpenArc has transitioned more than $10 billion in individual client assets and opened over 14,000 accounts. Institutional assets—primarily 401(k) and stock plan business, which made up the bulk of assets it managed at Merrill—are expected to take years to fully transfer.
OpenArc managing director and chief operating officer Emily Fletcher said the firm has enjoyed a robust pace of hiring since leaving the wirehouse, as it no longer faces constraints inherent in that model. The firm describes its offering as an independent advisory layer connecting retirement plans, equity compensation, deferred compensation, health savings accounts, and personal wealth, regardless of the underlying recordkeeper or administrator. Its technology stack is built on Dynasty Desktop and integrates platforms including eMoney, Black Diamond, Wealth.com, and Pontera.
"The intersection of benefits and wealth is where employees actually live, and it has long been underserved," said Jeff Crowell, managing partner of corporate strategy at OpenArc. "Employees do not think in silos, and their financial lives do not operate that way either." The announcement also highlighted how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are opening new capabilities for corporate benefit plan sponsors. With four decades of experience, OpenArc said Crain "has developed a clear perspective on the future of the industry in an AI-enabled world."
The hire comes amid a broader trend of RIAs attracting top talent from wirehouses and large institutions. For context, the Cerulli report notes the RIA M&A pipeline has hit $3.9 trillion as the retirement wave accelerates. Meanwhile, Cresset's recent hire of Bessemer Trust veteran Mark Tremblay underscores the talent push in the space.
