Financial advisors do not just manage money. They manage relationships, data, and an increasingly complex technology stack.
Zachary Karason is bringing a $106 million client business to Prudential Advisors. The Cleveland-based advisor joined the firm through its Mid America Financial Group in Columbus, Ohio.
Karason has more than 12 years of experience in financial services. He began his career at Merrill Lynch. He later became an assistant vice president before joining U.S. Bancorp Advisors as a wealth management advisor.
His move to Prudential is about more than changing firms. Karason says he wanted more independence to run his practice around his clients.
“I wanted the freedom to run my practice in the way I believe best serves my clients,” Karason said.
That means an emphasis on transparency and education. It also means giving clients a clearer view of decisions that can seem complicated.
Technology is part of that equation.
Prudential Advisors offers experienced advisors access to an open-architecture investment platform. It also provides planning resources and technology designed to support their practices.
For Karason, that support could make it easier to spend time where it matters most. He can focus on clients while relying on a larger platform for some of the infrastructure behind the practice.
The move also reflects a broader shift in wealth management. Advisors want the resources of large financial institutions. At the same time, many want greater control over how they work with clients.
Prudential Advisors says it supports more than 3,000 financial advisors nationwide.
Karason will serve individuals, executives, business owners and families in the greater Cleveland market.
Last month, Christopher Grella, formerly of Ameriprise Financial, joined Prudential Advisors in Holmdel, New Jersey, bringing more than three decades of experience in financial services.
