Bakish Wealth has signed on with Manulife Wealth, adding more than $350 million in assets under management to the insurance giant’s platform.
Joseph Bakish was a 10-year Richardson Wealth veteran prior to Monday’s announcement. He became a senior wealth advisor, portfolio manager in January 2022, according to LinkedIn. Bakish’s practice serves healthcare professionals, lawyers, academics, business owners and other segments. Bakish is taking six team members with him.
“I’m excited to join a firm with such a deep history of serving clients,” he said in an emailed statement.
“We are very excited to welcome Joe Bakish,” said Farhan Hamidani, chief growth officer of Manulife Wealth in a media release. “We look forward to working together, enabling them to build their business while providing excellence in personalized client service.”
Bakish will also work with Heritage MD, Manulife insurance advisory firm that specializes in serving health care professionals.
“Heritage MD … is a firm focused on our core area of specialization — health care professionals and academics,” Bakish said.
The positive news comes at a difficult time for Manulife Wealth.
Manulife advisors gave their firm an overall rating of 6.1 out of 10 in this year’s Investment Executive Dealers’ Report Card. That’s down from 7.2 one year ago.
A group of 13 advisors and 13 support staff left the platform for Harbourfront Wealth Management in July. In June, Investment Executive reported that changes to advisor fees and back-office technology had triggered frustration among some of the dealer’s advisors.