Bryn Mawr Hires One, Promotes Three in Wealth Division
Bryn Mawr Trust, the wealth management division of WSFS Financial Corporation, hired a chief operating officer and promoted three internal employees to bolster its team.
Bryn Mawr, based in Wilmington, Del., hired Michael Mendelson as senior vice president and COO after more than 20 years at J.P. Morgan Chase, most recently as executive director in its private banking division. In his new role, he is tasked with increasing efficiency and steering growth projects to help the firm meet its goal of increasing wealth fee revenue by 50% in the three years ending in 2027.
To help achieve that goal, the firm promoted Harrison Gelber to senior vice president and director of private banking and trust advisory services, adding to Gelber’s role of heading the private bank division.
In addition, Mark Bradford has been promoted to senior vice president and director of wealth planning, where he will lead the firm’s approach to offering personalized planning to clients. Jackie Blue, formerly a wealth director, has been named senior vice president and chief operating officer of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors, where she will oversee the portfolio solutions, client support and retirement plan services teams.
“These appointments reflect the strong momentum of our wealth division and our commitment to building a best-in-class team as we strive to become the top wealth management firm headquartered in the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware region by the end of 2027,” Jamie Hopkins, chief wealth officer, WSFS and Bryn Mawr Trust, said in a statement.
WSFS and Bryn Mawr Trust have about $92.4 billion in assets under management and administration across 115 offices, including 88 bank offices.
$16B Aspiriant Hires Director of Wealth Management
Aspiriant, a Los Angeles-based advisory firm with $16 billion of client assets under management and advisement, hired Gretchen Hollstein as director of wealth management.
Hollstein takes the role after over 20 years at San Francisco-area firm Litman Gregory Wealth Management, where her most recent role was senior advisor and managing director. She will remain in San Francisco with Aspiriant.
Hollstein works with high-net-worth individuals and families on financial planning, investment management, estate planning and tax advisory.
Aspiriant’s “employee-owned business model fosters an emphasis on trusted advisor-client relationships,” Hollstein said in a statement.
Fiduciary Trust Hires Senior Portfolio Manager from Girard
Fiduciary Trust International, a Franklin Templeton subsidiary with over $105 billion in assets under administration, hired Marc Balcer as senior portfolio manager.
Fiduciary Trust, which is based in New York, hired Balcer away from King of Prussia, Penn.-based wealth advisory Girard, where he was director of investment technology, senior vice president and client portfolio manager. He will be based in Radnor, Penn., and work with clients on investment strategies and allocations.
Balcer also mentors for INVE$T In Her Future, a program run by the CFA Society of Philadelphia’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.
Osaic Affiliate IronBridge Wealth Hires Financial Planning Lead
IronBridge Wealth Counsel, an Austin, Texas-based Osaic affiliate, has hired Ann Fransen to be director of financial planning.
Fransen joined the firm from Osaic’s home office, where she was a senior financial planning consultant helping to “re-introduce the fee-for-financial-planning business model under the corporate RIA,” according to her LinkedIn profile
In her new role at IronBridge, which oversees more than $2.4 billion in client assets, she will work with advisors on making financial planning “more powerful, more collaborative and more impactful for the families we serve,” the firm posted on LinkedIn.
Savvy Names Former Merrill Lynch Leader CIO
Savvy Wealth, a financial advisor platform with a $3 billion RIA, has hired Anshul Sharma from Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch as its chief investment officer.
Sharma joins New York-based Savvy from a role as managing director, senior portfolio manager with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. In his new position, he will work with Savy’s leadership team and its advisors on investment management strategies for high-net-worth clients. He is also tasked with “building Savvy’s first institutional-grade CIO office to directly support the independent advisors and advisory teams at its affiliate registered investment advisor,” including alternative investments, according to the announcement.
Savvy recently closed a $72 million series B fundraising round.
$11B Pitcairn Hires Investment Strategy Lead
Pitcairn, a family office based in Conshohocken, Penn., hired Carlin Calcaterra as managing director of investment strategy.
Carlin joins from a role as managing director and co-head of Ares Management’s financial advisor solutions team, where she worked with financial advisors on private market allocations and asset classes for advisor-led portfolios.
At Pitcairn, Carlin will spearhead investment solutions strategy and work with families on their portfolios.
“Carlin has a rare ability to connect the quantitative rigor of portfolio construction with clear, client-centered communication,” Nathan Sonnenberg, Pitcairn’s chief investment officer, said in a statement.
Carlin had previously been a senior principal and investment consultant at Mercer Investments and a vice president and lead portfolio manager for multi-asset solutions at Goldman Sachs.
She joins Pitcairn after it acquired Baltimore-based Brightside Partners in January 2025 and launched an RIA, Pitcairn Wealth Advisors LLC, to add to the firm’s trust company and shared single-officed family model. Pitcairn currently oversees $11 billion in client assets.
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