Savant Wealth Management Appoints Strategic Growth Veteran Jon Zindel to Chief Financial Officer Position
Zindel Poised to Help Savant Scale Its Platform for Growth
Employee-owned and led Savant Wealth Management named Jon W. Zindel, CFA®, as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective Feb. 1. Zindel, with more than 30 years in the industry, previously served as partner, CFO and executive committee member at Chicago’s William Blair, where, over the course of 12 years, he also led technology, human resources, real estate, and philanthropy.
William Blair is a large, privately held, employee-led firm that grew exponentially during Zindel’s tenure. His experience is ideally tailored for Savant, who is likewise experiencing exponential growth as an employee-controlled and founder-led firm.
A creative strategic finance professional, Zindel has built his career in leadership positions, helping financial services firms position themselves to take advantage of growth opportunities. In his previous position, Zindel helped his firm scale from a domestic enterprise to a global one, more than doubling its employees and offices to create a platform to propel exponential revenue growth.
“We realized about a year ago that we needed someone with in-depth knowledge, experience, and creative problem-solving ability to help Savant accelerate its long-term growth,” said Brent Brodeski, Savant’s CEO. “We made the decision to part ways with our previous CFO at the end of August and began a nationwide search to find a proven industry leader to help us scale our platform for growth. Jon more than fits the bill, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him join our team.”
“I am excited to join this talented leadership team led by Brent. In addition to its exponential growth over the past couple of years, I was also attracted to Savant’s vision of impacting a million lives through the Ideal Futures PlatformSM,” said Zindel. “Savant is different from typical aggregators or financial buyers because it’s backed by patient capital – investors who are interested in solid growth versus just a quick return on their investment. Instead of growing for growth’s sake, Savant seeks partners who can help provide an unparalleled client experience, a deep bench of specialists, and a wide variety of services. This kind of stable, strategic growth will help Savant expand on its industry leadership for the long term.”
Zindel will be a member-owner in Savant and joins other employees who, together, own approximately 65% of the firm, another differentiator that illustrates Savant’s commitment to the communities it serves. A graduate of Loyola University, Zindel began his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and also served as CFO and head of tax and financial reporting for 16 years at privately held American Century Investments, headquartered in Kansas City.
With 538 employees and 170 employee member-owners as of Dec. 31, Savant’s growth trajectory showed impressive momentum last year. In 2023, Savant also acquired 11 RIA and tax and accounting firms, expanding the firm’s footprint to 40 offices in 15 states while growing AUM to nearly $26 billion. Savant also became the largest combined wealth management and CPA firm in the U.S. per Accounting Today1.
“We partner to acquire talent, enter new markets, build density in our existing markets, and learn new things,” said Brodeski. “I like to say that Savant is at the intersection of growth and excellence. With Jon’s help, we’ll be able to leverage both for our long-term success.”
12023 Accounting Today Billion-Dollar Wealth Magnet: This annual ranking published in June 2023 includes the top CPA financial planners that have a wealth management/financial planning practice based on assets under management. Savant did not pay a fee to be included in this ranking. Please review detailed report here.
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