Kestra Financial announced the addition of four business development leaders to its national recruiting team as part of a continued push to strengthen its advisor community and support long-term growth. The expansion is designed to increase the firm’s ability to engage with advisors seeking independence and alignment with its platform.
The new hires, Ben Marks, Dave Sawan, Austin Shives, and Doug Wallace, join as Business Development Consultants and will cover key regions across the Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast. Collectively, they bring decades of experience in advisor recruitment, transition strategy, and business development within the independent wealth management channel.
The hires reflect Kestra’s ongoing focus on disciplined, advisor-centric growth across both its core platform and Kestra Private Wealth Services. The firm emphasized that expanding regional support will provide advisors with more personalized guidance, local market insight, and a collaborative home-office experience as they evaluate independence.
Each of the new team members has led significant recruiting pipelines and supported complex advisor transitions throughout their careers. Their experience spans independent broker-dealers and national wealth management platforms, positioning them to guide advisors through partnership decisions and long-term growth planning.
Prior to joining Kestra, Marks and Shives held leadership roles at LPL Financial, while Sawan and Wallace most recently worked in recruiting leadership at Commonwealth Financial Network.
Kestra Financial, headquartered in Austin, Texas, operates as an independent wealth management platform supporting financial professionals and firms, including RIAs, through integrated technology, consulting services, and a collaborative advisor network.
KEY QUOTE:
“As the quality and scale of our advisor community accelerates, we are equally focused on expanding the team that supports that growth. Ben, Dave, Austin, and Doug each bring meaningful recruiting expertise, strong advisor relationships, and a deep understanding of the independent model. Their addition to our team enhances our ability to thoughtfully align advisors with a platform built for long-term partnership and success. We’re seeing sustained interest from entrepreneurial, high-performing advisors who are thoughtfully evaluating their long-term partnerships. Our focus remains on the measured, strategic growth of our community, ensuring we have the best people in place to support advisors at every stage of that journey.”
James Collins, EVP, Head Of Business Development, Kestra Financial
