By Kenneth Corbin 

Edelman Financial Engines has recruited a high-profile executive from Goldman Sachs to step in as chief financial officer and executive vice president at the top-ranked registered investment advisor firm.

Suzanne van Staveren is starting her new role immediately, where she will lead a team of more than 90 people across Edelman's finance, strategy, and retirement-plan teams, the firm announced on Tuesday.

Edelman President and CEO Larry Raffone cited van Staveren's experience in the industry, which includes senior positions at Goldman and Fidelity, and hinted that her role will involve helping manage integrations of businesses Edelman could acquire.

"Suzanne brings extensive finance, operations and strategy experience from within our industry, including direct knowledge of the wealth-planning landscape and our unique combination of retail and workplace businesses," Raffone said in a statement.

"She also has a strong track record of success managing through mergers, acquisitions, and organizational integration, which will be crucial as we continue to pursue both organic and inorganic growth," he said.

Van Staveren was not immediately available for an interview, but confirmed in an email that her twin focus will be on building out Edelman's advisor services, like the recently launched tax practice, and on expanding the firm through acquisitions.

"On the organic side, that means attracting more clients with expanded offerings and enhanced client experience, and for inorganic growth, acquisitions that help us expand our planner footprint and/or capabilities," van Staveren said.

Van Staveren left Goldman's Personal Financial Management Group as the Wall Street stalwart has been looking to expand its own RIA business. She most recently served as CFO of that unit, where she helped integrate the RIA formerly known as United Capital and Ayco, Goldman's workplace financial planning operation.

She is at least the second senior executive to recently depart Goldman Sachs' PFM Group. Last year, CIO Kara Murphy left to join Kestra.

Representatives of Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on van Staveren's exit.

Van Staveren said her immediate focus at Edelman is on settling into the organization and meeting with her team. Over time, in addition to her work on expanding Edelman's service offerings, van Staveren said she will also look to build out the firm's digital platform, which has been expanding its content library with webinars on topics like inflation and market volatility.

"On the M&A side, we completed one acquisition last year with Viridian Advisors and are looking to do more in 2022. But it has to be the right fit," she said. "We are looking for RIAs whose investment and wealth planning philosophies match our own. We are not looking to acquire just for the sake of growth."

Write to advisor.editors@barrons.com

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April 26, 2022 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)

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