NEW ADVISERS

Merrill lists 17; 143 first adviser registrations across firms

The complete registration window covers 09/30/2026. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated accounts for 17 records; selected examples also include registrants listed with Great Valley, J.P. Morgan and Strategic Advisers.

By Maya Chen··3 min read

The records include 143 source-reported first adviser registrations in the selected window, which runs from 09/30/2026 through 09/30/2026. The largest named firm category is Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, with 17 people. The firm shown is the current source-listed affiliation; a first adviser registration does not establish a hiring date, first industry job or career start.

The full-period firm distribution

The complete distribution groups the 143 registrations into five chart categories: 17 at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated; seven at Great Valley Advisor Group, LLC; seven at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC; six at Strategic Advisers LLC; and 106 across all other firms. The last figure is a combined category, not a count for one firm. The named-firm counts are categories in the complete period, not a selected list of the entire roster.

Examples across the named firms

Two selected records list Pranav Garikapati and Vincent M. Papais with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated. Both have a first-registration date of 09/30/2026. Their records list Pennington, New Jersey, and Charlotte, North Carolina, respectively, as branch locations observed on 10/01/2026.

At Great Valley Advisor Group, LLC, Thomas E. McCrea and Bennett W. Miller are two selected examples with first-registration dates of 09/30/2026. Their listed branch locations are Denver, Pennsylvania, and Columbia, South Carolina, respectively; those location records were observed on 10/01/2026.

The selected J.P. Morgan Securities LLC examples are Matthew George, with Santa Cruz, California, listed as a branch location, and Victoria C. Buenner, with Plano, Texas. Both records give 09/30/2026 as the first-registration date, while the branch information was observed on 10/01/2026.

At Strategic Advisers LLC, Ethan Wells is listed with a Cumming, Georgia, branch and David Zappe with a Morristown, New Jersey, branch. Their first-registration dates are 09/30/2026; the branch records were observed on 10/01/2026. A listed branch does not establish a person's residence or only workplace, and the registration date does not show when someone was hired.

Selected records

PersonCurrent source-listed firmFirst-registration dateBranch location (observed 10/01/2026)
Pranav GarikapatiMerrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated09/30/2026Pennington, New Jersey
Vincent M. PapaisMerrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated09/30/2026Charlotte, North Carolina
Thomas E. McCreaGreat Valley Advisor Group, LLC09/30/2026Denver, Pennsylvania
Bennett W. MillerGreat Valley Advisor Group, LLC09/30/2026Columbia, South Carolina
Matthew GeorgeJ.P. Morgan Securities LLC09/30/2026Santa Cruz, California
Victoria C. BuennerJ.P. Morgan Securities LLC09/30/2026Plano, Texas
Ethan WellsStrategic Advisers LLC09/30/2026Cumming, Georgia
David ZappeStrategic Advisers LLC09/30/2026Morristown, New Jersey

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Complete record list

The full-period list contains 143 records. The homepage breakdown covers the complete list: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (17); Great Valley Advisor Group, LLC (7); J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (7); Strategic Advisers LLC (6); All other firms (106).

The list below includes all 143 source-reported first adviser registrations dated on 09/30/2026. The listed firm is the current source-reported affiliation, not necessarily the first registration firm. First adviser registration does not establish a hiring date or career start. Reported locations do not establish residence or sole workplace.

Showing rows 101–125 of 143. The CSV contains the complete table.

AdviserIndividual CRDSource snapshot dateFirst registration dateFirm in feedFirm CRDAdviser location
Pedro M. V. C. Alves827164810/01/202609/30/2026Ssa Wealth Advisors161357Not reported
Pepper B. DeTuro832951410/01/202609/30/2026Blackrock Investment Management, LLC108928Atlanta, GA
Pranav Garikapati831998910/01/202609/30/2026Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated7691Pennington, NJ
Quinton P. Bowers802889310/01/202609/30/2026Wedbush Securities Inc.877Newport Beach, CA
Rafael R. G. Rodriguez831995410/01/202609/30/2026Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated7691Pembroke Pines, FL
Robert J. Fell829956110/01/202609/30/2026United Capital Financial Advisors134600North Wales, PA
Robert L. Savage81533610/01/202609/30/2026B.B. Graham & Company, Inc.41533Oklahoma City, OK
Ruinian Kang769558110/01/202609/30/2026Transamerica Financial Advisors, LLC16164Alviso, CA
Ryan C. Fenniman701128610/01/202609/30/2026Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC19616Raleigh, NC
Ryan Kolenda819145310/01/202609/30/2026Eagle Strategies LLC110826Prince George, VA
Ryan N. Templeton709108710/01/202609/30/2026Great Valley Advisor Group, LLC123913Columbia, SC
Samantha J. Broas709304410/01/202609/30/2026UBS Financial Services Inc.8174Buffalo, NY
Samuel R. Bahr810295910/01/202609/30/2026Cetera Investment Advisers LLC105644St. Louis, MO
Samuel T. Welch827935410/01/202609/30/2026Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated7691Chandler, AZ
Seth Boehmer808067410/01/202609/30/2026Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated7691Miamisburg, OH
Shemika L. Merphy624831110/01/202609/30/2026PFS Investments Inc.10111New York, NY
Sophia K. DeRollo810658410/01/202609/30/2026Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated7691Boston, MA
Stephanie D. Bautista642691110/01/202609/30/2026Morgan Stanley149777Palm Desert, CA
Stephen Kitner833327110/01/202609/30/2026Osaic Wealth, Inc.23131St. Petersburg, FL
Stephen S. Schultz834736310/01/202609/30/2026Bastion Fiduciary333420Aberdeen, MD
Steven C. Choo826945010/01/202609/30/2026Vanguard Advisers, Inc.106715Charlotte, NC
Steven Francione696298410/01/202609/30/2026Guardian Wealth Partners, LLC310203Red Bank, NJ
Steven H. Richie820164110/01/202609/30/2026Arkadios Wealth Advisors288863Atlanta, GA
Susan P. McGuire244895010/01/202609/30/2026LPL Financial LLC6413Westwood, MA
Sydney G. Webb811538710/01/202609/30/2026Strategic Advisers LLC104555Fort Worth, TX

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