Pacific Northwest-based and rapidly expanding hybrid RIA Coldstream Wealth Management has a new Chief Operations Officer. The appointment of Matt Sonnen as COO is aimed to support the firm’s growth trajectory and further streamline its operational environment to better serve the firm’s current advisors and enable seamless integration of future M&A targets, according to the firm’s press release.
Matt Sonnen has all the markings of a perfect fit for addressing the firm’s burgeoning needs. Prior to joining Coldstream, Sonnen founded and served as CEO of PFI Advisors, a successful RIA consultancy firm that supported RIA owners in creating the infrastructure and scale needed to grow both top-line revenues and bottom-line profitability. He has also served in senior operational executive roles at Luminous Capital and at Focus Financial Partners, where he worked with breakaway advisors transitioning to independence.
In announcing Sonnen’s appointment, Coldstream’s Managing Shareholder, Kevin Fitzwilson said, “I am delighted that Matt has joined the Coldstream team. Based on his experience, reputation, and unique leadership skills, he could have joined any firm in the industry, but the fact that he decided to join ours is a further testament to the strength of Coldstream’s culture and the extent to which our employee ownership model has turned heads across the industry.”
Sonnen’s entrepreneurial drive and extensive front-line operational expertise in the RIA arena will serve him well as he and his team work to build out Coldstream’s operational platform and identify opportunities to scale and systematize its business.
The firm’s Operations, Information Technology, Performance Reporting, Client Service, and Salesforce CRM teams will report to Sonnen, who noted, “I was initially intrigued to learn how Coldstream achieved its size, quality, and growth prospects without taking on private equity money. Then, after I began to learn more about Coldstream’s unique vision and values, I became even more interested in becoming a part of the team.”
