KMS Financial Services, a Seattle-based broker/dealer subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann, has promoted Erinn Ford, who came onboard as president a year ago, to chief executive of the firm. She succeeds Eric Westberg, who’s been with the firm for over 30 years and will transition to chairman emeritus.
With the appointment, Ford becomes one of a small handful of women CEOs in the independent brokerage space. The leadership change is part of a larger growth initiative at the firm, and it will be followed by a series of senior leadership changes the firm will announce in the coming weeks.
Prior to joining KMS, Ford was president and senior vice president of advisor relations at Cetera Advisors. Prior to that, she served as chief operating officer and head of marketing at Pacific West Securities, which closed its doors and moved its reps over to Cetera Advisors.
KMS was acquired by Ladenburg Thalmann in August 2014 for $24 million in cash and stock. The firm reported 337 advisors, managing $16.4 billion in client assets at the end of last year.