Finance
Elite Team Managing $1.5 Billion in Assets Joins Ameriprise Financial for Sophisticated Resources to Take Their Practice to the Next Level
The team of five financial advisors say their high-net-worth clients will benefit from Ameriprise’s innovative and fully integrated digital capabilities
MINNEAPOLIS, August 13, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Q5 Wealth Management, a financial advisory team managing $1.5 billion in client assets in Beaumont and Houston, Texas, recently joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) from UBS Financial Services, Inc. Financial advisors Omar Bitar, Jeremy Saba, Mike Persia, Ed Persia, and Brad Klein conducted an extensive search for a new broker-dealer and chose Ameriprise for the firm’s robust resources to elevate their high-net-worth clients’ experience and significantly scale their practice. Specifically, the advisors were energized by Ameriprise’s innovative and fully integrated digital capabilities that will make it more efficient to consistently exceed clients’ expectations.
Reflecting on the move, Mike Persia said, “Clients are the core of everything we do, and they trust us to provide advice that propels them to reach their unique goals in life. Our team continually evaluates the way we’re doing business to ensure we’re delivering them the highest value. We saw an opportunity with Ameriprise to enhance our client offering and better position our practice for future growth.”
Q5 Wealth Management serves high-net-worth clients across the United States. The team specializes in advising on complex financial situations for individuals planning for retirement, families and business owners. “It’s our job as advisors to make it as easy as possible for clients to manage their financial lives in a comprehensive way,” Jeremy Saba added. “Ameriprise has leading capabilities that create efficiencies for clients and our team, as well as a sophisticated wealth management platform equipped with the products and services our clients want and need.”
The team chose to join Ameriprise’s independent channel because it offered the right balance of tenured support from leadership and flexibility to run their practice their way.
“We’re excited to welcome Q5 Wealth Management to our Ameriprise network,” said Ameriprise Field Vice President Logan Clipp. “Ameriprise is very thoughtful about the advisors we choose to partner with because we put significant time and resources into helping each one grow and serve clients exceptionally well. Omar, Jeremy, Mike, Ed, and Brad exemplify what it means to run a growth-focused, client-centric practice.”
Ameriprise Regional Vice President Tres Rouquette also supports the team.
The team includes their supporting staff, Investment Specialists Kevin Wagner and Ashley Carter, Client Service Managers Sherri Thompson, Brandy Head and Taryn King, and Client Concierge Dena McNiel.
Ameriprise has continued to attract experienced, productive financial advisors, with more than 400 advisors moving their practices to Ameriprise in 2023 and approximately 1,700 joining the firm in the last 5 years.1 To find out why experienced financial advisors are joining Ameriprise, visit ameriprise.com/why.
About the Ameriprise Ultimate Advisor Partnership
The Ameriprise Ultimate Advisor Partnership offers a differentiated experience for advisors that helps them accelerate growth while delivering an excellent client experience. Combined with the company’s culture of support and independence, the Ultimate Advisor Partnership enables advisors to scale their businesses, deepen client relationships and drive referrals for future growth.
About Ameriprise Financial
At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for 130 years. With extensive investment advice, asset management and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of approximately 10,000 financial advisors2, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors’ financial needs.
Ameriprise Financial cannot guarantee future financial results.
Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Investment products are not insured by the FDIC, NCUA or any federal agency, are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by any financial institution, and involve investment risks including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value.
Securities offered by Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.
©2024 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved.
1 Ameriprise Financial 2023 10-K.
2 Ameriprise Financial Q2 2024 Earnings Release.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813289340/en/
Contacts
Alison Mueller, Media Relations
612.678.7183
alison.g.mueller@ampf.com
Finance
PRESS RELEASE: Global Finance Names The 2026 FX Tech Awards As Part Of The Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards
Home Awards Winner Announcements

Global Finance magazine has named its annual FX Tech Awards as part of the Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange Awards 2026. This awards program honors companies that conceive fresh ideas and demonstrate exceptional skill in designing or deploying technology to improve foreign exchange.
These awards are named in honor of Gordon Platt, who was the driving force behind this program for many years.
An exclusive report on this program will be published in the January 2026 print and digital editions, as well as online at GFMag.com. It will also include Global Finance’s 26th annual World’s Best Foreign Exchange Banks Awards.
Winning organizations will be honored at Global Finance’s Gordon Platt Foreign Exchange and Best SME Bank Awards Ceremony in London – Date and Location TBD.
Global Finance’s regional experts considered bank and technology provider submissions and used their own research and knowledge to make shortlists in all regions and categories, before applying a custom algorithm, which includes market share, scope of global coverage, innovative features, competitive pricing, and customer service to help choose the 2026 FX Tech Award winners.
“Global Finance’s 2026 FX Tech Award winners are redefining what’s possible in foreign exchange technology,” said Joseph Giarraputo, founder and editorial director of Global Finance. “By delivering smarter, faster, and more secure solutions, these innovators are shaping the future of finance. Global Finance is proud to honor their outstanding contributions.”
The complete list of Global Finance’s 2026 FX Tech Awards follows.
For editorial information please contact: Andrea Fiano, editor, email: afiano@gfmag.com
###
Please fill in the form below to receive full coverage of the World’s Best Foreign Exchange Bank Awards 2026 when available.
About Global Finance
Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 185 countries, territories and districts. Global Finance’s audience includes senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. Its website — GFMag.com — offers analysis and articles that are the legacy of 38 years of experience in international financial markets. Global Finance is headquartered in New York, with offices around the world. Global Finance regularly selects the top performers among banks and other providers of financial services. These awards have become a trusted standard of excellence for the global financial community.
Logo Use Rights
To obtain rights to use the Global Finance FX Tech Awards 2026 logo or any other Global Finance logos, please contact Chris Giarraputo at: chris@gfmag.com. The unauthorized use of Global Finance logos is strictly prohibited.
Finance
Scotland’s finance secretary asks chancellor for assurances over tax plans
PA MediaScotland’s finance secretary has asked for a meeting and assurances from the chancellor over speculation she will raise income tax in her Budget.
Such a move, which Rachel Reeves refused to rule out last week, would lead to an automatic deduction from Scotland’s funding from the Treasury.
Shona Robison said Labour should ditch “outdated” fiscal rules which include making sure day-to-day spending is funded by tax revenues.
The Treasury said it would not comment on speculation but claimed its previous “record settlement” for Scotland meant it receives 20% more funding per head of population than the rest of the UK.
In an unusual pre-Budget speech in Downing Street last week, Reeves said she would make “necessary choices” in her tax and spending plans later this month after the world had “thrown more challenges our way”.
She did not rule out a U-turn on Labour’s general election manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance, leading to speculation that a tax rise is on the way.
Any increase in income tax by the UK government could see a fall in the block grant Scotland receives from Westminster as a result of a funding agreement called the Block Grant Adjustment.
The Fraser of Allander Institute has estimated a 2p rise in the basic rate of tax elsewhere in the UK could cut Scotland’s budget by up £1bn, unless the Scottish government matches the increase with its own tax rise.
Robison said the chancellor’s speech had “piled uncertainty on uncertainty” and that she had requested an “urgent meeting” where she would set out three tests.
These are:
- The chancellor “ditch her outdated, restricted fiscal rules” and faces up to a “new reality”.
- All money raised from tax increases is invested in public services, meaning the block grant also increases as a result
- Confirmation that Scotland will not see a cut in funding
She said: “They came to office promising an end to austerity, so to impose it on Scotland would be a political betrayal from which Labour would never recover.”
Getty ImagesIncome tax in Scotland
Ahead of the last general election First Minister John Swinney urged the next UK government to replicate Scotland’s devolved taxation system where higher earners pay more in tax.
People living in Scotland earning below about £30,300 pay slightly less income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK, with a maximum saving of about £28.
Above that threshold they pay increasingly more as earnings increase. Someone on £50,000 in Scotland pays £1,528 more than they would in the rest of the UK. That rises to £5,207 for someone on £125,000.

Swinney recently said he had no plans to make any further changes to taxation in Scotland ahead of next May’s Holyrood election.
However, following the chancellor’s speech last week he has now declined to rule this out.
What is the Treasury saying?
The Treasury said it could not comment on the chancellor’s plans ahead of her Budget, but it said she had outlined the global and long term economic challenges that would influence her decisions.
A spokesperson said: “Our record funding settlement for Scotland will mean over 20% more funding per head than the rest of the UK.
“We have also confirmed £8.3bn in funding for GB Energy-Nuclear and GB Energy in Aberdeen, up to £750m for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, and are investing £452m over four years for City and Growth Deals across Scotland.
“This investment is all possible because our fiscal rules are non-negotiable, they are the basis of the stability which underpins growth.”
Why would a UK tax hike cut Scotland’s budget?
A change to UK income tax would apply directly to residents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – but it could also have an impact on Scottish taxpayers.
When the devolved government in Scotland was given more tax raising powers nearly a decade ago, an agreement called the Fiscal Framework was agreed setting out how the new system would work.
Part of that was something called the Block Grant Adjustment (BGA) which meant the funding Holyrood receives from Westminster was reduced to take into the account money the Scottish government was now able to raise directly.
The BGA was intended to stop either government being better or worse off due to devolution.
It means the UK government is able to deduct funds from the block grant that it estimates it would have received if tax-raising powers were not devolved.
If the chancellor raises income tax, the BGA will also change.
Scotland will then have to generate more tax revenue or cut public spending in order to avoid a budget shortfall.
The Scottish Budget will be announced on 13 January.
Finance
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