Merrill advisor Jonathan Stogsdill joins Trinity Wealth Advisors

Jonathan Stogsdill joined Trinity Wealth Advisors, a St. Louis registered investment advisor, as senior wealth advisor, InvestmentNews reported Nov. 12.

He spent more than eight years at Merrill as a vice president and financial solutions advisor, working with clients on retirement planning, investment strategy and financial goal-setting across different life stages. At Merrill he also supported Bank of America employees through the company's Employee Financial Services program, and before that held branch management and mortgage lending roles at Bank of America for more than 12 years combined, according to the report.

Trinity was founded in 1997 by Jim Matush, its CEO and founding partner, and markets an approach it calls Life-Wealth Planning, which the firm says centers clients' personal priorities and long-term goals rather than portfolio performance. "What drew me to Trinity was the opportunity to be part of a team that sees financial planning as something much more personal than managing investments," Stogsdill said, according to InvestmentNews.

InvestmentNews placed the hire in a wider pattern of wirehouse advisors moving to independent firms. It pointed to Cyndeo Wealth Partners' March 2026 addition of Merrill veteran Glenn Rodriguez, who brought roughly $235 million in client assets.

For an advisor weighing a similar move, the difference is the support model. Trinity puts investment management, retirement planning, tax strategy, estate considerations and charitable giving in one team, which is the part of the firm Stogsdill described as the draw. Moves Wire has recorded 11 Merrill moves in the past 12 months. As Private Wealth Daily previously reported, JPMorgan hired Merrill advisor Tiffany Yu with a $940 million book on Nov. 3.