Ampersand Partners has drawn yet another advisor team from Wells Fargo Advisors, this time grabbing a nine-person Boston-based practice overseeing a reported $1.2 billion in assets, according to registration records and a social media announcement.
RTS Private Wealth Management Group, led by advisors Paul Roy, Kristopher Tedeschi and Dennis Schmidt, moved to Ampersand on Friday, their BrokerCheck records show. The team's offerings include investment management, retirement planning, tax-efficient strategies, legacy planning, risk-tolerance assessments and charitable strategies, according to its website.
At Wells, the group operated as Roy|Tedeschi|Schmidt Private Wealth Management of Wells Fargo Advisors, and it oversaw about $1.2 billion in assets as of March 2023, according to Forbes. Ampersand Chief Investment Officer John Crowley, a former Wells executive, announced the team's move on LinkedIn last week. A Wells spokesperson confirmed the team's departure.
Schmidt is the longest-tenured member of the RTS team. He first registered in 1977, at Drexel Burnham Lambert, and he moved to Salomon Smith Barney through its acquisition of Drexel Burnham's brokerage operations in 1989, according to BrokerCheck. He left for Wells in 2002.
Roy and Tedeschi were Wells lifers, having been registered with the wirehouse since 2006 and 2008, respectively.
The advisors are supported by Practice Director Lauren Monaco; Practice Director of Operations Elfidio Lopez Ordonez; Private Wealth Consultant Peter Cahill; and Senior Client Relationship Managers Dino Stanisic, J.R. Feltham and Nycole Vannata, all of whom were with the team at Wells.
Two weeks ago, Ampersand added a six-person New York-based Wells team overseeing $689 million in assets, and for the year Ampersand has lured at least nine advisors or advisor teams from Wells, representing about $5.2 billion in combined assets, according to an FA-IQ tally of moves.
Ampersand is led by David Kowach, who was head of Wells Fargo Advisors from 2016 to 2019, and John Alexander, who spent 23 years at Wells and most recently led the firm's wealth and investment management regional network.
Crowley last week also announced Ampersand's addition of a six-person advisor team from Edward Jones, where they oversaw about $252 million in client assets as of June 2023, per Forbes.
The team is led by advisors Erik von Hellens, Micah Elkins and Melanie Cromartie, who bring 20, nine and three years of experience, respectively, all at Edward Jones, per BrokerCheck. The advisors are supported by Team Director of Operations Cindy Sloan and Client Relationship Managers Abby Darsey and Lezlie Tyson. The team operates as von Hellens & Partners and is at least the fifth team or solo advisor to move to Ampersand from Edward Jones this year, per an FA-IQ tally.
An Edward Jones spokesperson did not respond to a request seeking confirmation of the team's departure.