People Moves: Modera Hires State Street Alum as CIO
Modera Wealth Management, a Westwood, N.J.-based registered investment advisor overseeing $17.5 billion in assets, appointed Gaurav Mallik as chief investment officer and Shelly Kapoor as chief operating officer.
Mallik, based in Modera’s Boston office, will lead the firm’s investment strategy and guide portfolio allocation, investment solutions and governance framework, according to an announcement. Kapoor, based in Westwood, will oversee operations and technology.
Mallik succeeds George Padula, who plans to retire at the end of 2026 and will remain with the firm through year-end to support the transition. Kapoor succeeds Harli Palme, who has transitioned to the director of learning and development.
“We brought on these two wealth management veterans at a pivotal moment as we expand both our investment offerings and our operations and technology platform,” CEO Tom Orecchio said in a statement.
Mallik most recently served as managing partner at Fiducia Advisors, where he led consulting projects for wealth management firms. Before that, he was chief investment officer at Pallas Capital and spent nearly two decades in leadership roles at State Street Global Advisors, including chief portfolio strategist and chief investment strategist.
Kapoor joins from Coldstream, where she managed business integrations. She previously served as chief operating officer at Arnerich Massena prior to its merger with Coldstream, and spent 13 years as senior vice president of operations at Ziff Brothers Investments in New York City.
Last year, Modera acquired a tax and accounting firm to bring those services in-house at the RIA.
Cresset Appoints Dheeraj Soni as Chief Technology Officer
Cresset, a Chicago-based multi-family office with more than $250 billion in client assets, named Dheeraj Soni as chief technology officer, elevating him from his role as managing director and head of trading.
Soni will lead Cresset’s technology organization, strategy and infrastructure while overseeing its trading platform, cybersecurity strategy and execution capabilities. He has nearly 30 years of leadership experience spanning wealth management, private banking, prime brokerage, asset management, institutional trading and investment banking.
Soni joined Cresset in October 2025 after being CTO of J.P. Morgan Advisors, where he led enterprise-wide trading modernization and platform integration initiatives. Prior to that role, he was head of wealth management technology at First Republic Bank, where he spent more than a decade overseeing wealth management platforms.
“Soni is an incredible technology leader who has dedicated his career to creating technology and trading organizations that seamlessly balance innovation and operational excellence,” CEO Susie Cranston said in a statement.
Cresset recently poached a top advisor from J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Ali Bathgate, who oversaw more than $1 billion in AUM for the bank.
HB Wealth Hires Two Senior Advisors to Lead New Institutional Division
HB Wealth, an Atlanta-based RIA managing $32 billion in assets, has hired senior advisors and firm shareholders Mike Hill and Armond Reese to lead a new institutional advisory and outsourced chief investment officer practice.
The business segment formalizes the firm’s longstanding institutional relationships across nonprofit, foundation, endowment and corporate clients, according to an announcement. Hill, based in Nashville, and Reese, based in Atlanta, will lead client development and relationship management across HB Wealth’s institutional clients.
“We’ve served institutional clients for years alongside the families and individuals who lead them,” CEO Thomas Carroll said in a statement. “What’s changing is the level of commitment. This is about building a dedicated infrastructure, people, process and capability so we can expand our reach and deepen our impact across the institutions we serve.”
Hill brings over 30 years of institutional investment management experience serving nonprofit organizations, foundations, endowments and other institutional clients, including 25 years with Truist Bank and its predecessor firms, where he founded and led the Nashville Institutional Investment Management practice.
Reese brings more than 25 years of experience advising foundations, endowments, healthcare foundations and public charities. He most recently served as regional practice leader in Truist’s Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice.
Both will report to Joel Houck, HB Wealth’s chief investment officer.
Eton Advisors Hires Senior Wealth Manager From Northern Trust
Eton Advisors, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based multi-family office overseeing $1.9 billion in client assets, appointed Molly Baumberger as senior wealth manager and member of the leadership team.
Baumberger, based in Miami, had been with Northern Trust for nearly two decades, advising families on trust and estate planning, family governance and fiduciary matters, most recently as a senior vice president and senior relationship manager.
At Eton, Baumberger will work closely with individuals, multi-generational families and business owners on trust structures, estate planning, investment strategy and wealth succession.
“From the beginning, I was struck by the team’s commitment to their clients and the intentionality and caliber of their work,” Baumberger said in a statement. “Eton’s boutique approach and client-first philosophy match my own belief that wealth planning is ultimately about people.”
