One year after joining MarketCounsel, the business and regulatory compliance consultancy to independent advisors, Anthony Stich has moved to Moran Wealth Management, a Naples, Fla.-based registered investment advisor with more than $5 billion in assets under management.
Stich, who was executive managing director at MarketCounsel, will serve as Moran’s chief marketing officer, overseeing the expansion of its digital marketing efforts and reach across new platforms and audiences, according to a statement. He connected with Moran via MarketCounsel, which has the RIA as a client.
Kylen O’Keeffe previously held the CMO role. O’Keeffe will now be chief brand officer, a newly created role.
“Kylen’s passion for our brand and client experience, combined with Anthony’s extensive marketing expertise, positions us to accelerate our growth and further solidify our standing as one of the leading wealth management firms in Southwest Florida,” said Tom Moran, founder and CEO of Moran Wealth Management, in a statement.
Stich will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to MarketCounsel. He joined that firm a year ago; CEO Brian Hamburger brought him on board to handle many of MarketCounsel’s operations, business development, relationship management and events.
“After a few months of working alongside Brian—who remains a fantastic friend—it became abundantly clear that Brian didn’t have a sales and marketing problem. He had to solve for the ever-expanding needs of his customers,” Stich said in an interview with WealthManagement.com. “It was more an issue of meeting his clients where they were in terms of the shift in their desires, and a lot of that had to do with M&A activity, a lot of that had to do with higher-level strategic conversations.”
Stich felt it made more sense to seek out replacements; since then, they’ve hired Kristen Benadom, former head of legal at Nitrogen, as general counsel of The Hamburger Law Firm; Paul Lally, a former partner at Wipfli, as head of business solutions; and Jim Pavia, a former senior editor at CNBC, as managing director of communications. Lally will continue the sales and marketing efforts Stich put into place.
This follows news last week that Ryan Marcus, a former managing director of engagement at MarketCounsel, joined Binah Capital Group, the public company created in 2024 with the merger of broker/dealer aggregator Wentworth Management Services and Kingswood’s SPAC, as chief business and engagement officer, in a new role.
At the same time, Stich’s oldest son is heading to college in the fall in Naples, where Moran is located. His son has some physical challenges, so Stich wanted to be close to him.
“Our family wasn’t ready to part with him, but we thought we could, instead, relocate the entire family and help him on his ironic pursuit of independence,” he said.
At Moran, he will help implement much of the marketing work he suggested when he consulted with the RIA.
“What you’re going to see at Moran is a lot more scientific digital strategies, introduction of podcasts and video—really where the puck is going all underpinned by a demand generation engine to create more demand,” he said.
O’Keeffe will be involved in many of the marketing decisions regarding how the brand meets the market and the client experience.
“Because as you begin to kind of grow that demand generation engine, you’re not only attracting prospects, but you’re also attracting your current clients,” Stich said. “And it’ll be her job to make sure it’s a seamless experience both externally and internally.”
Before joining MarketCounsel, Stich was the chief revenue officer at Entrustody, the self-described “digital-first custodian and technology company.” Prior to that, he was the chief operating officer at NaviPlan by Advicent, where he focused on sales, marketing and customer experiences across North America.
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