Wells Fargo FiNet adds $580M Ameriprise team as LPL signs Michigan practice

Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network has recruited an 11-person practice from Ameriprise that oversees roughly $580 million in assets, InvestmentNews reported Oct. 8. Orchard Financial Group, a Los Angeles practice led by Anthony Perez, has affiliated with FiNet, Wells Fargo Advisors' independent contractor channel.

Senior financial advisors Audrey Schmedes, Eric Smutko and Michael Kawase are making the jump with him, along with financial advisors Devin Marshall, Kristie Liuag and Chase Johnson. Aprile Poag joins as the team's registered wealth planning director; Brenda Mahar, Claudine Rajah and Sheree Wesley make up the support staff. "We're excited to welcome Orchard Financial Group to FiNet," said John Tyers, president of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network.

The Orchard Financial Group move is part of a Wells Fargo recruiting push across its employee and independent channels after years of net advisor losses, according to InvestmentNews. The Diamond Consultants Financial Advisor Transition Report for 2025 counted a net gain of 85 experienced advisors in Wells Fargo's Private Client Group, the firm's W-2 channel, after a net loss of 248 in 2024; that figure covers the employee channel, not FiNet.

LPL said it signed Brad Jerome of Legacy Financial Group, who moved his practice to the firm's broker-dealer and registered investment advisor platforms from Osaic. Jerome reported serving approximately $175 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets.

Based in Burton, Mich., outside Flint, the practice works with clients ranging from first-time investors to retirees in their 90s, often serving several generations of a single family alongside estate attorneys and accountants. Jerome said technology and the investment platform drove the decision: "We were looking for a firm that was professional, operationally strong and capable of supporting our firm's continued growth."

This publication's records show a $1.1 billion Praxis Financial Partners team leaving FiNet for LPL in a transition dated Oct. 6 that has not been independently confirmed. In August, this publication reported that FiNet took two California teams, and Raymond James recruited a Wells Fargo veteran.