Fiduciary education specialist fi360 today announced it bought Ann Schleck & Co., a provider of business strategy, sales, client retention and product development services to retirement providers, fund companies, advisors and consultants.
Marrying the resources of both companies will enable the combined organization to boost the insight, training and actionable recommendations to help its financial clients grow their businesses, the firm’s executives say.
“Working with Ann and her team will help us further develop our respective solutions for financial professionals, as well as fi360’s comprehensive practice management tools aimed at promoting fiduciary excellence,” Blaine Aikin, fi360’s CEO, said in a press release.
fi360 is based in the Pittsburgh area. Ann Schleck & Co. will operate as a wholly owned independent subsidiary of fi360 and remain at its current headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. Principals Ann Schleck and Sue Kelley will retain their current positions within the company.
“With fi360’s advanced technology platform, we are now exceptionally well positioned to deliver unparalleled industry insights and innovative solutions to our mutual clients, all while maintaining the level of integrity and quality of service that our clients have grown to expect,” Schleck said in a statement.
In addition, Ann Schleck & Co. said it has created two new senior positions. Kirsten Feste Taylor joins as creative director to lead the firm’s newly established creative agency aimed at providing branding and marketing solutions for retirement and financial professionals. Taylor previously held positions with marketing and branding companies, and also worked at regional investment bank and brokerage firm Piper Jaffray.
Michael Muirhead, who has more than 20 years of investment management experience, joins the company as vice president of learning and development. He spent the past 12 years at Merrill Lynch, where he was most recently a financial advisor and previously an institutional sales manager.