Kestra Financial has appointed Kristan Garner as Head of Client Service and John Milligan as Head of Operations as the wealth management platform continues expanding its operational and client experience capabilities. The appointments support both Kestra Financial and its breakaway-advisor channel, Kestra Private Wealth Services. Garner will oversee advisor service, technology solutions and account services.
She brings more than 15 years of financial services and investment operations experience and most recently served as Director of Operations at Fidelity National Information Services, where she led global operations and contact center teams.
Before FIS, Garner spent nearly a decade in investment operations roles at USAA.
Milligan will oversee Kestra’s core operational functions, including trading, cashiering, producer compensation and fee billing.
He joins from Truist Bank, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and Head of Capital Markets Operations.
At Truist, Milligan led broker-dealer operations and helped integrate the former SunTrust and BB&T brokerage businesses into Truist Investment Services. He previously held leadership roles at Ameriprise Financial and is a U.S. Navy veteran and CFP professional.
The hires follow Kestra’s appointment of Angela Xavier as Executive Vice President and Client Experience Officer and the establishment of a secondary headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, focused on client service and operations.
KEY QUOTE:
“Kristan and John bring deep expertise in client service and operations, and their leadership will help us continue raising the bar for efficiency and operational excellence across the advisor experience.”
Angela Xavier, Executive Vice President and Client Experience Officer at Kestra Financial
