- Roberto Stewart has been appointed as president and chief business officer at Hightower Advisors. Stewart will lead enterprise services and support the firm’s growth strategy by advancing Hightower One, Hightower’s back- and middle-office platform. Additionally, he will oversee operations, technology, risk, product, PMO, and integrations. Prior to joining Hightower, Stewart served as COO at Engle Martin, a portfolio company of BW Forsyth Partners. He also held executive roles at American International Group, McKinsey & Company, and Allstate. As part of this transition, Gurinder Ahluwalia, who had stepped in as Interim President, will continue to be an advisor to the company and remain a member of Hightower’s board of directors.
- David Lynch has been named managing director of RIA Falcon Wealth Planning and will be responsible for leading advisor growth initiatives and scaling Falcon’s model through organic marketing channels and custodial platform partnerships. Lynch will be based at the firm’s headquarters in Ontario, California, and will report to CEO Gabriel Shahin. Before joining Falcon Wealth Planning, Lynch served as SVP and region head at Fidelity Investments, where he oversaw 50 branches and $700B in assets under administration.
- Mike Conlon has been appointed chief revenue officer at Docupace, an AI-powered back-office and compliance provider. Conlon will oversee Docupace’s end-to-end revenue strategy, sales, marketing, client experience, and partnerships. Additionally, he will lead the firm’s “go-to-market” strategy, optimize revenue operations, and support client engagement. Prior to joining Docupace, Conlon served as the head of sales at Dun & Bradstreet.
- Jeff Schwantz has been named EVP of wealth management sales at Orion. Schwantz will lead Orion’s wealth management sales unit, overseeing its strategic growth initiatives. Schwantz will assist Orion in deepening advisor partnerships and accelerating the adoption of the firm’s wealth management capabilities. Prior to joining Orion, Schwantz served as chief growth officer at Luma Financial Technologies, where he led global sales, marketing, and client support. Schwantz also held various executive leadership roles at Advisor360°, Morningstar, eMoney Advisor, and BNY Pershing.
- Christian Munafo has joined VanEck as portfolio manager of growth equity. Munafo will contribute to developing the firm’s methods and strategies for offering private market strategies to a variety of investors. Additionally, he will contribute to VanEck’s expansion in private markets, extending its reach from early-stage venture and digital asset strategies into late-stage private growth investing. Prior to joining VanEck, Munafo served as the CIO of Liberty Street Advisors and its affiliates, where he was both a portfolio manager and member of the Investment Committee, and oversaw multiple products focused on late-stage private growth companies.
- Sean Lindenbaum has joined the Carson Group as VP of business development for the Southeast region. Prior to joining Carson, Lindenbaum was the director of business development at Dynasty Financial Partners.
- Bob Marcum has joined BRG as a managing director in its Energy & Climate division. Marcum will advise clients on energy and infrastructure investments, including project and corporate finance, restructurings, due diligence, and lender program design. Marcum will be based in Washington, D.C. and will join managing partner Michael Whalen. Before joining BRG, Marcum was a senior executive at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, where he oversaw asset management, including restructurings and bankruptcies for the $32B portfolio.
- Bloomberg has rolled out its Private Direct Lending Data offering. Available on the Bloomberg Terminal at DLEN <GO>. Bloomberg’s Private Direct Lending offering consolidates information from all U.S. BDC filings, through Bloomberg News reporting, M&A disclosures, and involved party submissions.
- New York-based GenNx360 Capital Partners, a private equity firm, has acquired Franklin Machine & Gear, an industrial gear and gearbox repair and replacement provider, through its portfolio company, Horsburgh & Scott. Houston-based Franklin Machine & Gear, founded in 1974, is a full-service provider of gear and gearbox manufacturing and repair services. Franklin co-owners, Eddy and Larry Franklin, will remain with the combined business, along with general manager Tom Patton. GenNx360’s H&S team includes co-founder Lloyd Trotter, managing partner Monty Yort, operating partner Latasha Akoma, and associate Miles Oliver. Cleveland-based H&S, founded in 1886, specializes in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and repair of custom gear and gearboxes for industrial applications.
- Jump, an AI-powered wealth tech platform, has partnered with Perennial Financial Services, a registered investment advisory platform. As part of the collaboration, Perennial has integrated Jump’s ‘Operate’ solution firmwide, to include AI intake forms, document intelligence, and pre-meeting preparation capabilities.
- Ameriprise Financial has added Lafayette, LA-based Pinnacle Wealth Management to its independent channel. The firm, which was previously affiliated with LPL Financial, oversees more than $110M in total client assets and is led by private wealth advisor Vincent Lauer, and includes financial advisor Hank Morvant and support staff member Emily Currier. Pinnacle Wealth Management provides “comprehensive” financial planning and wealth management services to high-net-worth clients. The practice is supported locally by Ameriprise’s franchise field VP Kevin Sevlie and Ameriprise’s regional VP Mike Barker.
- New Jersey-based King Financial Network, a wealth management firm, has adopted Advisor360°’s AI-native operating system as its strategic platform, unifying CRM, reporting, client portal, document management, and integration with RightCapital. King Financial Network manages about $1.2B in assets and includes 14 advisors.
- Equity Methods, a valuation and financial reporting provider, has acquired the assets of Equity Plan Solutions, a boutique firm specializing in equity plan administration services for publicly traded, venture-backed, and sponsor-backed companies across the U.S. Equity Plan Solutions was founded in 2016 by Elizabeth Dodge. Following the acquisition, Dodge will join Equity Methods as director of equity management services and Albert Orozco will also join EPS as principal and head of operations and will join Equity Methods as a director.
- Dallas-based Sycamore Tree Capital Partners, an investment firm, has launched its Credit Secondaries investment platform. Sycamore Tree’s Credit Secondaries platform aims to expand the firm’s existing strategies, which are designed to provide investors with private credit exposure, enhanced liquidity, and return dynamics. The platform will be led by partner and portfolio manager Robert O’Connor.
- SiFive, a semiconductor IP company, has raised $400M for its Series G funding, bringing its valuation to $3.65B. The funding round was led by Atreides Management, a hedge fund firm, and included participation from major investors such as NVIDIA, Apollo Global Management, Point72 Turion, T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Prosperity7 Ventures, and Sutter Hill Ventures. The new capital will go towards supporting SiFive’s goal for “scalable” CPU and AI infrastructure to meet the growing demands of agentic AI workloads. Additionally, SiFive plans to expand research and development across scalar, vector, and matrix compute capabilities.
- Court Square Capital Partners, a private equity firm, has raised $3.8B for its Court Square Capital Partners Fund V, exceeding its targeted goal of $3B. The fund will focus on control buyouts in sectors including business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology.
- Leeds Equity Partners, a private equity firm, has raised $1.9B in the closing round for its fund, Leeds Equity Partners VIII. The funding will be used to target opportunities across multiple sectors and will be used to shape how organizations deliver education, training, and data-driven insights. The firm will also use the funding to partner with management teams to scale businesses to improve access to education and enhance workforce capabilities.
- Bain Capital, an alternative investment firm, has raised $1.5B in commitments for the third vintage of its CLO captive equity strategy, Bain Capital Credit CLO Management III. The fund targets majority equity investments across Bain’s U.S., European CLOs, and warehouses.
- Horizon Technology Finance has provided a senior credit facility valued at up to $25M for Stellar Cyber. This funding aims to bolster Stellar Cyber’s expansion efforts. Additionally, the financing will provide Stellar Cyber with the capital to enhance its security operations platform.
- GoldenTree Asset Management, an asset management firm, has raised $3B in the closing round for its Series I funding round of the Tactical Opportunities Fund. The fund, which is offered in an evergreen format, is aimed at capturing opportunities across various asset classes. The fund also allows for allocation to private assets such as private credit, structured credit, and distressed credit.
The post People & Company News, Week of April 17, 2026 appeared first on Connect Money.
