A team of advisors in Newport Beach, Calif., has joined Citizens Financial Group, now operating as Webber Wealth Partners within Citizens Private Wealth. The team, led by advisors Matt Webber and Chris Illiano, previously managed more than $1.2 billion in total assets at Ameriprise Financial.
Webber Wealth Partners serves high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and the move expands Citizens’ presence in California. Citizens Private Wealth has teams in Newport Beach, San Francisco and Los Angeles, while the private bank has teams in San Francisco, Marin County, Menlo Park, Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego.
Citizens has been pushing to expand its private wealth advisor headcount and assets under management, particularly in Southern California. Last year, the financial services firm added Bradley Wealth Partners, an $880 million team in Newport Beach led by Eric Bradley, formerly of Citi Private Alternatives. The firm also acquired a team from Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch, also based in Newport Beach, as well as a nine-person team in Beverly Hills.
“California remains an important growth market for Citizens, and this team brings deep experience serving clients on the West Coast with increasingly complex financial needs,” said Paul Casey, head of wealth management at Citizens, in a statement.
Citizens has recruited 13 teams representing $13.2 billion in client assets to its Private Wealth division in the last two years. That included a Tampa-based advisory team that previously served clients holding more than $1 billion in assets for Northern Trust.
“Joining Citizens gives our team access to an integrated platform that seamlessly combines wealth management with private banking and commercial banking capabilities, creating a powerful advantage for clients with increasingly complex needs,” Webber said in a statement.