Sanctuary Wealth, a hybrid registered investment advisor that provides wealth management solutions and platform services to independent advisory firms, has appointed three senior leaders as it expands its capabilities across estate planning, mergers and acquisitions, and advisor growth marketing.
Harry Drozdowski has joined Sanctuary as Managing Director of Advanced Estate & Wealth Planning, Reilly Cornell has been named Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions, and Kelly LaPalio will serve as Vice President of Advisor Growth Marketing.
The appointments are intended to give Sanctuary’s Partner Firms additional specialized expertise as advisors work with increasingly complex clients, pursue organic and acquisition-driven growth, and prepare their businesses for succession.
Drozdowski will serve as a strategic resource for advisory teams working with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
His responsibilities will include helping advisors evaluate sophisticated estate, trust and legacy-planning strategies, while also addressing considerations around advisory-firm structure and succession planning. He will connect Partner Firms with resources covering tax planning, trust services, philanthropy and solutions for business owners.
Drozdowski brings nearly two decades of legal and wealth-planning experience working with ultra-high-net-worth clients and family offices across both wealth management and private legal practice.
A Harvard Law School graduate, he most recently served as Executive Director and Private Wealth Strategist at Wells Fargo, advising some of the firm’s largest client relationships on sophisticated estate, tax and wealth-planning matters.
Cornell will help lead Sanctuary’s M&A strategy and transaction execution efforts.
She will work with existing Partner Firms and outside RIAs to source, evaluate and execute acquisitions that can support business growth and succession strategies. Cornell will work alongside Josef Rogers, who was promoted earlier in 2026 to Director of Corporate Development and has helped develop Sanctuary’s M&A strategy since joining the company in 2024.
Cornell joins Sanctuary from Bluespring Wealth Partners, where she was a Principal on the M&A team. She evaluated more than 100 potential acquisitions and executed more than 15 wealth management transactions during her tenure.
Earlier in her career, Cornell worked in Citi’s Investment Banking division, advising energy companies on acquisitions, strategic transactions and capital raises.
LaPalio will focus on expanding organic growth programs across Sanctuary’s national advisor network.
Working directly with Partner Firms, she will help advisors refine their market positioning and use digital marketing, content and lead-generation strategies to attract new clients, deepen existing relationships and support sustainable growth.
LaPalio brings more than 20 years of experience working with financial advisors and wealth management firms on marketing and business growth. Her background includes leadership positions at FocusPoint Solutions, Avantax and Hightower, spanning both platform-level marketing and programs designed directly for advisors.
The additions expand Sanctuary’s broader Partnered Independence model, which is designed to give established advisors more control over how they serve clients and operate their businesses while providing access to a larger infrastructure of technology, operations, marketing and specialized professional support.
Sanctuary was originally built to serve wirehouse advisors transitioning to independent models and now supports Partner Firms operating across multiple business structures.
The company said its open-architecture platform combines technology, marketing and operational resources intended to help independent advisors serve sophisticated clients while building long-term enterprise value in their practices.
The three appointments reflect Sanctuary’s effort to deepen capabilities around areas that can become increasingly important as independent advisory firms grow larger, including complex estate planning, inorganic expansion through M&A, advisor succession and systematic client acquisition.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are building for where our Partner Firms are going, not simply where they are. Harry, Reilly and Kelly bring the experience and perspective to help advisors address more complex client needs, pursue new avenues for growth and prepare their businesses for what comes next. Their arrival represents an important investment in the next generation of our platform and the long-term success of our community. Independence must continue to evolve if it is going to meet the changing needs of advisors and their clients. Our responsibility is to anticipate those needs, continue investing in the platform and expand the choices available to Partner Firms. Whatever direction their businesses take, we want them to have the expertise, capabilities and support to follow the path that best fits their goals and the needs of their clients.”
Adam Malamed, Chief Executive Officer of Sanctuary Wealth
