Summit Financial Appoints Kevin Barry as Chief Investment Officer

Merchant-backed RIA brings on veteran investment professional to advance firm’s overall investment services for advisors

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Summit Financial, a registered investment advisory organization with a four-decade legacy of supporting the success of advisors and their clients, announces the appointment of Kevin Barry, CFA as the firm’s chief investment officer. The addition of Barry, who has more than 25 years of experience in investment management, underscores the firm’s assertive approach to deepening the level of resources available to its growing roster of investment advisors.

Barry most recently served as chief investment officer at CAPTRUST and he brings a nuanced understanding of the markets and a track record of developing and supporting investment management programs. His market insights have been featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and other leading broadcast media outlets. During his time at CAPTRUST, he oversaw more than $60 billion in discretionary assets under management for individual and institutional level clients. At Summit, Barry will broaden the range of resources, solutions and flexibility of the investment offerings available to advisors and their clients.

“Securing a talented investment leader like Kevin is a significant milestone in our evolution as a platform that meets our advisors’ needs and accelerates their future success,” asserts Stan Gregor, CEO of Summit Financial.

“Summit has a solid foundation, an innovative mindset and a clear runway for growth,” added Barry. “The firm’s culture grows from 40 years of empowering independent advisors and creating opportunities for clients, and I look forward to partnering with their team as we take an already great investment platform to the next level.”

The addition of Barry was facilitated by Summit’s capital partner Merchant Investment Management. This strategic hire is another benchmark development for Merchant and Summit, who first partnered in 2019 when Merchant invested in Summit Financial. With Merchant’s support, Gregor and his team launched Summit Growth Partners (SGP), a fully aligned advisor capital solution. SGP, offered alongside Summit’s proprietary platform SummitVantage™, has helped to propel the firm’s assets under advisement to $7 billion (as of 8/31/22).

“There are few professionals like Kevin who possess both the investment management acumen and the experience of helping an organization scale through acquisition,” explains Merchant co-founder and managing partner Tim Bello. “This combination will be tremendously valuable to the Summit organization. Our partner firms benefit from alignment of great talent. Kevin is no exception to the caliber of talent we seek for our partner firms, and I know he will be a fantastic addition to Summit's growing advisor platform.”

About Summit Financial
Summit Financial Holdings, LLC’s affiliated firms include, but are not limited to, Summit Financial, LLC, Summit Risk Management, LLC, Summit Advisory Services, LLC, Summit Services IT, LLC, and Summit Growth Partners, LLC.

As an independent financial services firm with legacy business from its predecessor going back 40 years, Summit and its affiliates are proud to continue their vision of guiding clients toward financial success by aligning extensive experience with a forward-thinking philosophy, adapting to industry changes for the sake of best serving our clients now and well into the future. With customized, holistic and hands-on advice, we help turn life’s aspirations into success stories. Our financial advice focuses on individual needs and values, not industry norms.

To learn more about our firms, please visit our website at www.SummitFinancial.com.

About Merchant Investment Management, LLC
Merchant is a private partnership providing growth capital, management resources, strategic opportunities and direction to independent financial services companies, particularly those focused on wealth and asset management. For additional information, please visit www.merchantim.com.