Mesirow Names Shawn Beber CEO as It Expands Wealth and Retirement Services

Shawn Beber will take the chief executive role at Mesirow as the Chicago based financial services firm expands its wealth management and retirement plan businesses. His appointment brings a leader with experience in commercial banking, wealth management and corporate development to a firm pursuing growth through acquisitions, organic expansion and specialist hires.

Mesirow’s board selected Beber unanimously after an extensive search, the firm said. He succeeds Richard S. Price, who will remain executive chairman and focus on organizational strategy and the firm’s civic and community work. The division of responsibilities puts Beber in charge of the CEO role while Price stays involved in longer term direction and community activities.

Beber spent more than two decades at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, working across U.S. commercial banking, wealth management, risk management, legal matters, strategy and corporate development. Most recently, he was president and CEO of CIBC Bank USA. Mesirow said he helped build CIBC’s U.S. business, including through the Canadian lender’s $5 billion purchase of The PrivateBank in 2017.

Price described Beber as a leader with experience and judgment, and said he could bring people together to serve clients and grow businesses. He also said Beber would bring a fresh perspective to Mesirow’s leadership while maintaining the long term focus and principles that have guided the firm through its 90 year history.

Beber pointed to Mesirow’s entrepreneurial culture and commitment to clients. The appointment comes as the firm adds services and capabilities in areas that can deepen its relationships with advisors, plan sponsors and wealth clients. That combination gives the new CEO a broad remit: sustaining the firm’s established approach while overseeing growth across businesses with different clients and operating needs.

Retirement services are a central growth area

Mesirow reported $410.3 billion in assets under supervision as of Sept. 30. The figure covers the firm’s overall supervised assets; it is distinct from the narrower asset totals reported for its retirement and wealth businesses. The firm has said it intends to grow through strategic acquisitions, organic expansion and investment in specialist capabilities.

Recent transactions have focused heavily on workplace retirement plans. In July, Mesirow completed its purchase of LeafHouse Financial Advisors, which now operates as Precision Fiduciary Partners. A month later, Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions agreed to buy flexPATH Strategies’ plan level 3(38) investment management business. That transaction closed in late October.

These moves broaden the services Mesirow can offer across retirement plans. A 3(38) fiduciary receives discretionary authority over a plan’s investment decisions. Mesirow’s explanation of the role is that this arrangement shifts the related investment decision responsibility away from plan sponsors and their advisors. Its outsourced fiduciary platform also offers 3(21) investment lineup services, which have a different role in supporting plan investment choices.

Mesirow’s platform oversaw approximately $164 billion in combined assets as of June 30 and supported roughly 10,000 advisors nationwide. Those figures show the reach of the retirement operation, though they describe a different business measure and reporting date from Mesirow’s $410.3 billion in assets under supervision as of Sept. 30. The scale also helps explain why adding fiduciary services has become a significant part of the firm’s expansion plans.

Ketan Shah, Mesirow’s chief strategy officer and general counsel, said the firm was expanding access to fiduciary solutions across the retirement sector to support advisors, plan sponsors and industry partners. His comments place the acquisitions within a broader effort to add services for several groups involved in workplace plans, rather than treating each deal as a standalone expansion.

Wealth management adds people and investment expertise

Mesirow Wealth Management, the firm’s registered investment advisor business, has also added senior talent. In October, it hired Paul Arnold, formerly global head of multi asset research at Morningstar Investment Management, as managing director and head of investment solutions. The newly created role covers asset allocation, manager research and portfolio construction.

The wealth division also added advisor Mark K. Nichol in September through its Empowered Advisor initiative. The program is aimed at experienced advisors seeking open architecture resources and greater flexibility. Mesirow Wealth Management had approximately $14 billion in assets under management and advisement as of March 31.

For Beber, the immediate measure of the strategy will be how effectively the firm connects its expansion plans to the needs of these businesses. Retirement services depend on relationships with advisors and plan sponsors, while wealth management relies on investment capabilities and advisor support. Acquisitions can add scale and expertise, but their contribution depends on how well they fit the firm’s existing operations and client relationships.

Mesirow’s recent activity therefore gives the incoming CEO a clear set of priorities: integrate the retirement businesses it has added, build on its wealth team and continue developing specialist services. The assets and advisor figures establish the current scale of those operations; the next indication of progress will be whether the new capabilities translate into sustained expansion across both areas.

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