Enquirer Consulting Group
Kelsey Nicholas | ClientWise | October 2026
As of 13 Oct 2026
ClientWise coaches and consults financial advisors and the firms they work in, from individual and team coaching to executive coaching for the people who lead advisors, and custom programs that larger firms roll out across their advisor force.
This map lays out the wealth management firms that should know about that work: the groups they sit in, how large each group is where a clean public count exists, and who usually signs off inside each one, by type of firm and by size.
The groups follow the range ClientWise names on its own site, from single owner practices to multi-billion dollar enterprises and the larger corporate firms that want a firm-wide program.
Counts are firms, not offices, and are banded on purpose. A group with no clean public count says so rather than showing a number. A firm that works in more than one of these lines can appear in more than one group.
| Group | Organizations in the US | Under 20 staff | 20 to 99 | 100 to 499 | 500 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent advisory firms giving investment advice, registered investment advisers among them | about 22,000 | about 22,000 | about 380 | about 110 | about 160 |
| Portfolio management firms, wealth managers that manage client assets among them | about 24,000 | about 22,000 | about 1,100 | about 360 | about 310 |
| Broker-dealers and securities brokerages, wirehouses and independent broker-dealers among them | about 5,700 | about 5,300 | about 180 | about 82 | about 120 |
| Wealth management groups inside banks and trust companies | no clean public count | ||||
| Insurance carriers and agencies that run their own financial advisor forces | no clean public count |
US firm counts by industry code, banded deliberately.
Titles vary with size. At a smaller firm the founder or managing partner often holds most of these seats.
| Group | Who usually signs off | Who also weighs in |
|---|---|---|
| Independent advisory firms | Founder or managing partner at an owner-led firm, CEO or president at a larger one | COO, the next generation partners, the head of talent where there is one |
| Portfolio and wealth management firms | CEO, president or managing partner | COO, the head of growth, the lead for advisor development |
| Broker-dealers and wirehouses | Head of practice management or advisor development, for a program across the advisor force | Branch and complex managers, learning and development, the head of the wealth division |
| Bank and trust company wealth groups | Head of wealth management or private wealth | Market and regional leaders, learning and development, HR |
| Insurance advisor forces | Head of field or advisor development, or the managing partner of an agency | Training leads and the regional leaders who manage advisors |
ClientWise matches its coaching to the size and complexity of each firm, so the person who signs and the first need both change as a firm grows.
| Size of firm | Who usually signs off | What they usually want first |
|---|---|---|
| Single owner practice | The owner advisor | More capacity and profit, stronger leadership skills, and a plan for succession |
| Team or ensemble firm with several partners | The managing partner, with the other partners | A team that works as one, a fair compensation plan, and next generation partners ready to lead |
| Large multi-office enterprise | CEO or COO, with the head of talent or practice management | Executive coaching for the people who lead advisors, compensation design, and support through a merger or acquisition |
| Broker-dealer, wirehouse or bank advisor force | Head of practice management, with the head of the wealth division | A firm-wide program whose progress can be tracked and reported at the firm level, plus content licensed across the firm |
At an owner-led firm the decision is personal. The owner or managing partner chooses a coach they trust and pays from the firm's own budget, and the next generation partners usually join the conversation once succession or team roles are on the table.
At a broker-dealer, wirehouse or bank the person who signs is rarely the person coached. Practice management or advisor development sponsors the program, picks the advisors or branch leaders who take part, and wants results it can report at the firm level before it widens the rollout.
The people who usually sign at the groups above, one a company. Work emails and phone numbers checked on Oct 13, 2026.
| Name | Role | Company | Where | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad Hamilton | SVP Head of Practice Management | Mariner | Tulsa | +1 303 349 3925 | |
| Shauna Mace | Managing Director, Head of Practice Management | SEI | Philadelphia, PA | smace@seic.com | +1 802 598 7394 |
| Kylie Murray | Director of Practice Management, Consulting & Strategy | Sammons Financial Group Companies | Phoenix, AZ | +1 800 992 2642 | |
| James Jurica CFP CLU CHFC RICP | Director of Advisor Development | Wealth Watch Advisors | San Antonio, TX | james.jurica@wealthwatchadvisors.com | +1 210 363 7457 |
| Denise Sarkor | Director of Advisor Development and Fellow Success | New Majority Capital | New York | denise@newmajoritycapital.com | +1 973 954 8346 |
| John Gatewood | Founder & Director of Advisor Development | Gatewood Wealth Solutions | Naples, FL | john.gatewood@gatewoodwealth.com | +1 314 503 4369 |
| Liv Shin | Director of Advisor Development | 49 Financial | Los Angeles | olivia.shin@49financial.com | +1 503 726 6114 |
| Jim Gasparotto | Director of Advisor Development | Osaic | Southfield, MI | james.gasparotto@osaic.com | +1 734 834 9212 |
| Melissa Witbeck | Head of Wealth Management West & South Division | Vanguard | Dallas-Fort Worth | melissa_witbeck@vanguard.com | +1 805 217 1017 |
| Mike Selfridge | Executive Vice President and Head of Wealth Management | Zions Bancorporation | New York | +1 415 652 2235 |
Built from public federal registries and the company's own website, counts banded deliberately.
If a walk-through is useful, pick a time at cal.com/ecg.
Prepared by Paul Smaldone, paul@enquirerconsulting.com.