Creative Planning Hires New Marketing Chief
Creative Planning, the Overland Park, Kan.-based registered investment advisor with $780 billion in client assets across the U.S. and Europe, has hired a new chief marketing officer to grow its international brand as a full-service wealth manager.
Ovi Vitas posted on LinkedIn that he would be joining Creative Planning after a similar position at insurance and annuity provider AmeriLife. He is succeeding Nick Jacobson, who left Creative Planning in August to explore other options.
“What (Creative Planning CEO) Peter Mallouk and the team have built is remarkable,” Vitas wrote in his post, calling the RIA “an incredible business with tremendous momentum, a differentiated approach to serving clients and an opportunity to bring the Creative Planning brand to even more people.”
Unlike Jacobson, who had spent over 25 years in financial services marketing, Vitas brings large consumer brand marketing experience to the job.
Before AmeriLife, he had been chief brand and digital officer for Marriott Vacations Worldwide, and prior to that, global marketing director for Reebok. Earlier in his career, he held marketing leadership positions at Warner Bros., Electronic Arts Sports and Time Warner.
“We’re thrilled to have Ovi join Creative Planning,” Mallouk wrote in an email. “He brings a strong track record of building brands and marketing organizations that support businesses through periods of significant growth and transformation.”
At AmeriLife, Vitas helped build and then scale a centralized marketing setup, Mallouk wrote.
“That combination of consumer marketing and financial services experience is especially relevant as Creative Planning continues to expand its footprint in the U.S. and internationally,” Mallouk wrote.
Creative Planning has been taking pole position as the largest privately-held RIA in the United States, albeit with some of its assets now in Europe. In March, the RIA completed an acquisition of London-based MASECO LLP, adding 123 employees and over $5 billion in AUM. That came after the firm had already acquired Switzerland-based Baseline Wealth Management, which oversaw about $1 billion in assets.
In an interview at the Wealth Management EDGE conference in June, Mallouk said he was not interested in taking Creative Planning public. But he has, for years, been positioning it as a national brand capable of competing with wirehouse competitors, including the launch of its first major national advertising campaign in 2019.
As the RIA sector grows, other aggregators are also seeking greater brand awareness.
Corient, which has grown to about $572 billion in global assets, has recently run advertisements for both general consumers and business owners. LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker/dealer, launched a national, consumer-focused campaign with actress Anna Kendrick last year. In the meantime, many larger RIAs have been focusing on building their brand recognition, particularly as a calling card with upper-high-net-worth clients.
Mallouk, who is the majority owner of Creative Planning, said Vitas’s ability to scale marketing across a complex organization will serve him well in his new role as Creative Planning continues to expand.
“We serve a growing number of clients who are looking for a more coordinated approach to wealth management, one that brings together investments, tax strategy, estate planning, trust services and other financial disciplines under a single advisory relationship,” Mallouk wrote.
