Erinn Ford, a long-time advocate for women in financial planning, has been appointed CEO of KMS Financial Services, becoming one of only a handful of women leading a major financial services firm, KMS announced Monday.
Ford previously held the position of president at KMS, a title that she will retain. KMS, a Seattle-based subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, is an independent advisory and brokerage firm founded in 1971 with $16.4 billion in client assets and 337 investment professionals.
She succeeds Eric Westberg as KMS CEO. Westberg, who has been with KMS for more than 30 years, will serve as chairman emeritus. He was chief operating officer and general counsel before becoming president. He assumed the roles of chairman and CEO in 2017.
Ford said she spent her year as president learning about the KMS advisors and how they want to grow. KMS will look to organic growth for its advisors, but it also will aim to acquire more advisors and advisory teams.
“There is an opportunity to grow because there will be continued consolidation in the industry. We will look for the right people to add to our leadership team and to add to our advisors,” Ford said. “We will look at practices with one or two advisors or ensemble teams, especially in the Pacific Northwest.”
Larry Roth, former CEO of Cetera Financial Group and AIG Advisor Group, currently managing partner of RLR Strategic Partners, said, “As the only major independent broker-dealer headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, KMS has tremendous untapped growth potential, in terms of both organic growth for existing affiliated advisors, and recruiting new advisors.
"Based on her time as president of Cetera Advisors, Erinn Ford stands out as one of the rising stars of the industry, with a battle-tested ability to recruit and retain advisors, even during very challenging circumstances. With the resources and expertise of Ladenburg backing Erinn and her leadership team, KMS is well-positioned to accelerate its growth in the near future,” Roth added.
KMS typically serves as the OSJ for its advisors.
Last year, Ford established the Erinn Ford Leadership Scholarship at her alma mater, University of Washington, which awards $5,000 each to two women pursuing careers in financial planning. She also has mentored people in the financial services field.
Ford’s elevated status will give her even larger platform to advocate for gender, racial and age diversity, she said.