Savant Wealth Management taps William Blair exec for new CFO

investmentnews.com:

Savant Wealth Management has appointed Jon W. Zindel as its new chief financial officer.

He joins the firm from William Blair, where he spent 12 years as a senior leader across technology, human resources, real estate, and philanthropy, and served as partner and CFO at the Chicago-based firm.

Zindel’s experience, which spans 30 years, will assist Savant in its continued fast growth as an employee-controlled and founder-led firm. In 2023 alone, Savant acquired 11 RIA and tax and accounting firms, bringing its reach to 40 offices in 15 states while growing its AUM to nearly $26 billion.

“We realized about a year ago that we needed someone with in-depth knowledge, experience, and creative problem-solving ability to help Savant accelerate its long-term growth,” Brent Brodeski, Savant’s CEO, said in a statement. “We made the decision to part ways with our previous CFO at the end of August and began a nationwide search to find a proven industry leader to help us scale our platform for growth. Jon more than fits the bill, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him join our team.”

Employees own around 65% of Savant, and Zindel becomes one of 170 member-owners among 538 employees across the country.

“Savant is different from typical aggregators or financial buyers because it’s backed by patient capital – investors who are interested in solid growth versus just a quick return on their investment,” Zindel said. “Instead of growing for growth’s sake, Savant seeks partners who can help provide an unparalleled client experience, a deep bench of specialists, and a wide variety of services. This kind of stable, strategic growth will help Savant expand on its industry leadership for the long term.”