&Partners, the hybrid registered investment advisor founded by former wirehouse executives, has added another advisory practice to its East Coast roster. The firm announced that Foothills Legacy Wealth Management, a seven-person team based in Upstate New York, has joined its platform with $864 million in prehire assets under management.
The practice was founded by Andrew Cook and Gerard Mehan, both former advisors at Wells Fargo. Cook and Mehan serve as co-founders and managing director and director, respectively. The team provides comprehensive wealth planning that includes investment management, retirement planning, tax planning and estate planning for clients across various life stages. Other team members include Christopher Cassidy as partner and director, Joanne Windas as partner and director, Brandie Mulligan as director of planning, Courtney Fagan as financial consultant, and Susan Mallery and Gregory St. Denis as senior client relationship managers.
This addition follows a period of rapid growth for &Partners. As of June 30, the firm had grown to 117 advisor practices and roughly $58 billion in combined assets under management. The trajectory builds on a run of additions disclosed earlier in the summer. Last month, the firm brought on three advisor teams in a single week: Wavewood Private Wealth, Brookside Wealth Advisors and Three Points Wealth Planners, which managed roughly $1.6 billion in combined prehire assets from Wells Fargo. In May, &Partners added teams accounting for almost $700 million in prehire assets.
When &Partners launched in 2023, co-founder David Kowach set a target of 100 top-performing advisor partner teams. The firm crossed that milestone in just over two years, welcoming the St. Louis-based Mannen Financial Group from Wells Fargo. The firm has now pulled more than 100 practices from firms including Wells Fargo, Edward Jones, UBS and Merrill Lynch, and has reportedly attracted interest from advisors at Commonwealth Financial Network.
&Partners' recruiting strategy is tied to a finite equity pool. The firm has capped equity distribution at 40 million shares, a limit designed to support growth to roughly $120 billion in assets under management before shifting to cash-based recruiting. Once that threshold is reached, the firm intends for its advisors to hold the largest stake. Co-founder Kristi Mitchem previously told InvestmentNews: "When we complete our five-year plan and we've recruited the advisors we want to recruit, advisors will be the single largest group of shareholders within our firm."
As of March, &Partners reported that 41% of its partner advisor teams were led by women, nearly doubling some industry benchmarks for gender representation. Mitchem noted that the firm's equity model appeals to female advisors seeking ownership and flexibility. The firm's growth mirrors broader trends in the RIA space, as seen in recent moves like Aspen Standard Wealth adding $1.3B CWS Financial Advisors and Hightower Signature Wealth adding $5B via three firms.
