Firm Led by Ex-Wells Fargo Execs Recruits $1 Billion Advisor Team From Wells Fargo -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones05-12

By Andrew Welsch

A Wells Fargo financial advisor team that oversaw $1 billion in assets has left the company to join &Partners, a wealth management start-up led by former Wells Fargo wealth and asset-management executives.

The team is led by partners Andrew Buchta, Charles Collins, and Nicholas Bova, &Partners said on Friday. They are based in Arlington Heights, Ill. The team also includes advisory and client service professionals Katie Buchta, Mary Bronton, Brian Kotowski, Jennifer Hernandez, Ryan Seth, and Kate Buxton.

Andrew Buchta is a veteran of the wealth management industry, having first registered with Wells Fargo in 1998, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by brokerage industry self-regulatory organization Finra. Collins joined Wells Fargo in 2016; he has been an advisor since 1994 and has past work experience at Morgan and Smith Barney. Bova started his career at Wells Fargo in 2013, according to BrokerCheck.

A representative for Wells Fargo was unavailable for immediate comment.

St. Louis-based &Partners has recruited 115 advisor practices since its founding in 2023. The company is led by CEO David Kowach, who previously served as president and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, the bank's brokerage unit, which has thousands of advisors across the country. Other former Wells Fargo executives at &Partners include John Alexander, who oversaw Wells Fargo's branch advisor system, and Kristi Mitchem, who once served as CEO of Wells Fargo Asset Management.

&Partners has been steadily hiring this year. On May 1, it said it recruited two teams that collectively oversaw more than $700 million in assets in Westlake, Ohio, and Lake Suzy, Fla. In the former location, the team known as 1796 Private Wealth joined &Partners from Wells Fargo. In the Sunshine state, advisor Nicholas Nemec and his team migrated from Edward Jones.

Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 11, 2026 14:22 ET (18:22 GMT)

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