SageView Builds Out Leadership Team to Drive Next Phase of Strategy

Independent registered investment adviser firm SageView Advisory Group announced the buildout of its senior leadership team as part of the next stage of its growth strategy. Christina Walsh has joined as chief financial officer and Steve Gaven has come on in the newly created role of chief growth officer. The two C-suite leaders will each report directly to John Longley, SageView chief executive officer.

SageView serves nearly 2,000 plan sponsors and has acquired 10 firms since its partnership with Aquiline Capital Partners LP.

“We are thrilled with this expansion of our executive team, which adds two industry leaders who each bring an outstanding level of expertise, experience, and knowledge,” Longley said. “As a former member of SageView’s board of directors, Christina already has a thorough understanding of our business and forward vision, combined with a proven ability to align thoughtful corporate finance strategies with growth plans to fuel our firm’s ongoing expansion.”

“By welcoming Steve as our chief growth officer, we are bringing aboard an incredibly seasoned RIA corporate strategist and business development expert at driving organic and inorganic, [mergers and acquisitions]-based growth. Looking ahead, we are excited about all we can accomplish with Steve and Christina on our C-suite team as we continue to drive success for our retirement plan business while significantly accelerating the expansion of our wealth management business, including through a robust pace of thoughtful acquisitions,” Longley continued.

Previously, Walsh served as a principal at Aquiline, SageView’s equity partner and a private investment specialist in financial services and related technologies. While there, she focused on growth transactions and expansion strategies for wealth management enterprises. Before Aquiline, Walsh worked with Focus Financial Partners, pursuing M&A and partner relationships with independent wealth managers. Before that, Walsh was an M&A banker at Evercore, advising financial services clients on transactions.

“SageView is incredibly well-positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities we see in the market. I look forward to working alongside John and our executive leadership team to achieve our vision for SageView as we continue to expand and deliver meaningful value to all our stakeholders.”

Gaven most recently served as chief financial officer of RWA Wealth (formerly Adviser Investments), a private equity-backed RIA aggregator. Gaven oversaw a high-performing team of eight professionals, with a particular emphasis on helping identify and execute growth transactions for the firm.

While at RWA Wealth, Gaven led the organization through two acquisitions, which doubled the firm’s assets under management to $15 billion in less than two years. In addition, he helped RWA Wealth design a new operating model for its wealth management platform and expanded service offerings to include trust and estate services for ultra-high net worth and family office client segments.

“I’m thrilled to take on this new role at a pivotal moment for SageView and the industry. I look forward to working closely with John and the entire executive team as we build upon SageView’s considerable success and growth to date,” said Gaven.

SageView Advisory Group is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission serving retirement plan sponsors and individuals throughout the United States since 1989. Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., it has more than 30 offices nationwide.

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