SageView CEO Long to Step Aside as Firm Pushes Further into Wealth Management

SageView Advisory Group CEO and founder Randy Long will be stepping into the role of chairperson as the firm continues expanding from its retirement plan advisory roots into wealth management, according to an announcement Monday.

John Longley, former private wealth head of the defunct Silicon Valley Bank, will be taking the CEO role on September 1 to continue the firm’s “focus on driving expansion in wealth management.” Long will become chairman to focus on strategy and growth planning, according to the announcement.

“Building on our success to date, we believe this is the perfect moment for us to enhance our leadership team with the addition of John Longley, a widely respected private wealth leader, as our new CEO,” Long said, in a statement. “By bringing John aboard while transitioning to the role of Chairman of the Board, I will be able to fully focus on strategy setting and growth planning for SageView over the long term, while partnering closely with John to ensure that our future success honors all that we have accomplished until now.”

Randy Long.

Long founded Newport Beach, California-based SageView in 1989 as a retirement plan advisory, building the practice to its current pool of 2,100 retirement plan clients representing about 1.7 million participants and $170 billion in assets.

In 2021, private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners took a majority stake in SageView with a goal of building up its wealth management practice through acquisitions and organic growth. Since that time, the firm has made nine transactions that helped build its wealth management division to $4 billion in client assets.

SageView is competing in a burgeoning space in recent years for wealth and retirement aggregators including CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, OneDigital, and Hub International Limited. Private equity has been a key player in driving industry consolidation, with each of these firms getting some form of capital infusion from PE players.

“SageView has one of the elite retirement practices in our industry,” says Peter Campagna, a partner with Wise Rhino Group, which specializes in retirement industry M&A. “The next step in the aggregator model is to focus on building the bridge to engage the plan participants in personal financial planning conversations. That will require expertise and leadership more on the wealth side and I think you will continue seeing more wealth talent becoming part of these aggregating firms.”

Campagna says he does not see the move at SageView as a change in direction, but part of the ongoing strategy, including the choice of a CEO with a background in wealth management.

“They have been setting the table for a move to have a more wealth focused firm for years,” he says. “It is just an acceleration and the next logical step.”

New CEO Longley will work with Jon Upham, SageView president and head of retirement, on the firm’s direction, according to the announcement.

Longley joins from a position most recently as president of SVB Private, a division of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co., a role he took after heading SVB’s private bank, wealth and trust division. Before those roles, Longley had been president of the western region of Boston Private, and co-founder and CEO of Dobot, a digital financial advisory platform that was acquired by Fifth Third Bank. He had also held positions as head of private wealth for BlackRock Inc.’s iShares, and CEO of Citi Private Bank N.A. at Citigroup Inc.

“This is the ideal time for me to join SageView as CEO and continue the firm’s tremendous success experienced under Randy’s leadership,” Longley said in a statement. “I am confident of our ability to accelerate growth as we launch the next phase of our long-term vision.”

Longley cited as advantages SageView’s partnership with Aquiline and its “robust capital engine,” the firm’s leadership in the retirement plan advisory business and financial wellness for participants and its ability to scale in wealth management “by building the bridges to connect the platform, tools, and people across our retirement plan advisory and wealth management businesses.”

SVB’s private bank was acquired by First Citizen after SVB collapsed in March.

SageView’s recent acquisitions have included the founding team of Retirement Benefits Group and $415 million women-led registered investment advisory LakeView Wealth Management. The firm continues to identify new advisers and opportunities who are “a strong cultural fit,” according to the announcement. It currently operates out of 30 offices around the U.S.