South Lake Avenue’s Wedbush Securities Taps J.P. Morgan, Bank of America Veteran for New York Post

Wedbush Securities, the financial services firm now headquartered on South Lake Avenue, has hired Kurt Ryden as a managing director in its wealth management division, recruiting the nearly 30-year Wall Street veteran from Bank of America’s private banking arm to expand the firm’s New York City presence. 

The appointment, announced Tuesday in a company statement, reflects Wedbush’s push to grow its wealth management business beyond its West Coast roots. 

Ryden previously served as a private client advisor at Bank of America Private Bank and before that spent more than two decades at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where he held the titles of senior private banker and managing director, according to the press release and his Bank of America biography. 

At J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, Ryden focused on advising high-net-worth individuals and families on wealth preservation and multigenerational planning, according to the company’s announcement. 

“I joined Wedbush because I believe clients deserve objective, tailored advice,” Ryden said in the press release. “As a private, employee-owned firm, we are not beholden to the quarterly earnings demands of public shareholders. That independence allows us to prioritize the client’s best interest above all else.” 

Chris Mone, executive vice president and head of wealth management at Wedbush, said in the press release that Ryden’s experience and approach would further the firm’s wealth management platform in New York. 

“Kurt will play a key role in driving continued growth and deepening client relationships in this important market,” Mone said. 

Ryden holds an MBA in finance and marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Haverford College, according to the press release. He lives in Westchester County, New York. 

Wedbush Securities is the largest subsidiary of Wedbush Financial Services, a privately held firm founded in 1955 in Los Angeles. The company relocated its corporate headquarters to 225 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena in 2024 after more than 60 years based in downtown Los Angeles. The firm has approximately 100 registered offices and nearly 900 employees nationwide, according to the company. 

The Ryden hire is the latest in a series of managing director appointments Wedbush has made in recent years as it builds out its wealth management, investment banking, and capital markets divisions across the country.