Deals & Moves: &Partners Recruits $1.6B in Advisor Teams
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Summary
&Partners, a St. Louis-based hybrid broker-dealer launched by David Kowach, the former president and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, recruited three advisor teams in one week with a combined $1.6 billion in pre-hire assets under management, all departing from Wells Fargo Advisors. The firm now manages $57 billion in assets across 117 advisor practices.
Market Impact
The recruitment reflects the ongoing breakaway pressure on Wells Fargo's wealth management distribution channel, with &Partners competing for experienced wirehouse advisor teams by offering independence within a broker-dealer structure. In a separate deal, Creative Planning, one of the country's largest independent RIAs with $710 billion in assets under management, acquired Southwest Florida accounting firm MarkhamNorton Accountants+Advisors to expand its integrated financial planning offering. This analysis is informational and avoids any directional trading claims.
Why It Matters
It illustrates the structural churn in financial advisor distribution channels, where wirehouse breakaway momentum is benefiting hybrid platforms purpose-built by executives who understand the source channel from the inside.
Key Points
- &Partners recruited Wavewood Private Wealth ($574M, Basking Ridge, NJ), Brookside Wealth Advisors ($550M, Indianapolis) and Three Points Wealth Planners ($450M, Dana Point, CA), all from Wells Fargo Advisors, in a single week.
- The three teams bring combined pre-hire AUM of $1.6 billion; &Partners now has 117 advisor practices with $57 billion in total assets.
- &Partners was founded by David Kowach, the former president and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, and operates as a hybrid broker-dealer structure offering advisors independence within a regulated platform.
- Creative Planning, one of the country's largest independent RIAs at $710 billion in AUM, acquired MarkhamNorton Accountants+Advisors in Southwest Florida, with the deal closing July 1, 2026.
Key Entities
Evidence
&Partners, a St. Louis-based hybrid broker/dealer launched by David Kowach, the former president and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, has recruited three advisor teams in the last week with a combined $1.6 billion in pre-...Supports: Supports the recruitement summary.
&Partners now has 117 advisor practices across $57 billion in assets.Supports: Supports the current platform size.
Creative Planning is strengthening its footprint in Southwest Florida through the acquisition of MarkhamNorton Accountants+Advisors, an accounting and advisory firm serving the region for more than four decades... one...Supports: Supports the Creative Planning acquisition context.