David Kowach is most known for his unflappable energy and contagious enthusiasm. He is a passionate leader with a deep-rooted commitment to personal and organizational growth. Throughout his career, he has challenged himself to lead courageously and has never wavered in his support for those who made success possible. At &Partners, he is creating the firm he always envisioned – one where advisors and their clients come before everything else. David brings to his leadership role over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to founding Ampersand Partners, LLC, he had the privilege of serving as President and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, which under his leadership served more than 3 million clients with $2 trillion in assets. More recently, he led the Wells Fargo Community Bank where he re-engineered retail banking to enhance both efficiency and client loyalty. 

Big firms, where politics can trump performance and progress, do not hold allure for John Alexander, anymore. He is interested in building something better. After 26 years with Wells Fargo Advisors, John is dedicating himself to creating an environment where advisors want to work and a business where they and their clients will thrive. John started his career as an advisor at Edward Jones.  He went on to lead the retail branch advisor system at Wells Fargo. At Wells, John gained practical field experience and grew as a leader. He spent time repositioning under-performing businesses, developed strategies to expand into new markets and designed tools to drive growth and harness efficiency in the core advisory space. 

Randy Bradshaw understands that deep connections, between advisors and their clients, are what changes lives for the better. As a result, he is a firm believer that the client is best served when the advisor is trusted and empowered to deliver. His commitment to the sanctity of the advisor/client relationship is unwavering.  He has been an integral part of helping to build a firm around this conviction—a place where advisors and their clients can truly thrive.  

Randy has nearly two decades of experience with Edward Jones, one of the top Fortune 500 brokerage firms. He started as a financial advisor and went on to lead thousands of advisors and their teams as a General Partner and Principal. In his most recent role, Randy was responsible for overseeing 18,000 branch teams where he focused on developing the training, coaching and consulting functions required to support the nationwide network’s performance.  

I have never been satisfied with the status quo. I’m a challenger with a drive to make finance a force for good. Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the largest and most sophisticated investors in the world.

At Ampersand Partners LLC*, I’m focused on building an institutional quality investment platform. I have over 25 years of experience in asset management and capital markets.

Most recently, I was CEO of BMO Global Asset Management, a Canadian asset manager with over $300 billion in assets under management.

Prior to my time at BMO, I was CEO of Wells Fargo Asset Management, where I helped steward over $500 billion in client assets. In addition to these roles as CEO, I also held leadership positions at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, focusing on equity derivatives and defined contribution, respectively. I believe that we are in the business of changing lives, and for me, nothing could be more exciting and rewarding.

Matt is a seasoned financial professional with extensive experience in the field, including over 20 years as a CFP.

After a ten year career in Public School Education, Matt transitioned to Financial Services in 1998. He built a successful Advisory practice in Mid-Michigan and ultimately relocated to St Louis, Missouri as a General Partner in his firm. Matt led multiple areas related to growth and performance and ultimately assumed responsibility for the Financial Advisor Training Programs for Advisors across the country.

After exiting corporate leadership Matt formed his own Registered Investment Advisory firm so he could focus on holistic financial planning and the myriad financial decisions clients face in modern wealth management.

In 2023, Matt joined with friends and colleagues to form a new firm, &Partners, to bring greater capabilities, support. and alignment to Advisors.

Matt leads the Advanced Planning area of &Partners, with particular emphasis on Tax Planning, Charitable Planning, and Estate Planning. He works directly with Advisors to develop comprehensive and strategic plans to help clients make informed and confident financial decisions.

Matt recently completed his Master of Taxation (MT) and Graduate Certificate in Estate Planning, from Villanova University. Matt also holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from Michigan State University as well as a Master of Education (M. Ed.) from Saginaw Valley State University.

My passion for building solutions that have a positive influence on people’s financial well-being is perfectly aligned with the mission at &Partners. I work closely with advisors on portfolio strategy and offer a wide range of investment insights.

My work has spanned decades in diverse roles including managing portfolios and devising employer retirement solutions as well as sophisticated institutional investor strategies. For many years I also worked with the CFA Institute on curriculum development, notably within portfolio management.

I spent the first half of my career in various portfolio management roles at BlackRock, focusing on both strategic and tactical asset allocation. I have held leadership roles, such as leading the Defined Contribution business at State Street Global Advisors. Most recently, I was the CEO of LGM, an emerging market equity boutique fully owned by BMO Global Asset Management.

As a former portfolio manager, I understand the value of skillful security selection, disciplined portfolio construction and asset allocation optimization. I am at &Partners to be an extension of the advisor’s investment team.

My career began as an investor with Eaton Vance, where I employed fundamental analysis to manage over $34 billion across various equity strategies.

I joined Wells Fargo Advisors to help advisors provide better investment recommendations to their clients. I focused on increasing the alignment between portfolio holdings and financial planning recommendations. In five years, I engaged with more than 3,000 financial advisors with over $250 billion in client assets under management.

I have managed money for some of the largest and most sophisticated investors in the world, and I am excited to be a part of delivering high-quality investment recommendations to advisors and their clients.