&Partners Snags $864 Million Wells Fargo Team in Upstate New York

&Partners on Friday reeled in a team managing $864 million at Wells Fargo Advisors in Upstate New York, according to a spokesperson for the hiring firm.
Albany, New York-based Foothills Legacy Wealth Management is led by Andrew J. Cook Jr. and Gerard J. Mehan, according to the spokesperson. They joined &Partners with support staff Christopher Cassidy, Joanne Windas, Brandie Mulligan, Courtney Fagan, Susan Mallery and Gregory St. Denis.
Cook and Mehan both moved to Wells in 2019 from Merrill Lynch, according to registration records. Cook started his career with the thundering herd in 2012, and Mehan first registered with EQ Financial Consultants in 1992. He worked at six other firms before joining Merrill through its Banc of America predecessor.
Members of the team did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Wells declined to comment.
&Partners, founded in 2023 by former Wells and Edward D. Jones & Co. executives, has grown to 117 advisor practices and approximately $58 billion in recruited assets, according to the spokesperson. Firm executives previously said that it aims to have around 150 practices managing $120 billion in assets by 2028.
Last month, the firm hired a team managing $550 million at Wells’ independent Financial Network in Indiana. In May, it reeled in at least three teams managing $2.5 billion combined at Wells’ employee channel.
&Partners hires advisors as employees but pays them similar to independent contractors by offering them a greater portion of their revenue in exchange for their covering certain office expenses. It has financed operations with backing from family and friends of the founders and obtained a line of credit from private equity firm The Carlyle Group, according to regulatory filings.
10 firms since 1992?
It’s called….. getting PAID, OBVIOUSLY THEIR CLIENTS FOLLOW THEM, AUM SPEAKS FOR THEM!

Facts Only

* A team managing $864 million at Wells Fargo Advisors joined &Partners.
* Foothills Legacy Wealth Management is based in Albany, New York.
* The leadership of Foothills Legacy Wealth Management is Andrew J. Cook Jr. and Gerard J. Mehan.
* Support staff included Christopher Cassidy, Joanne Windas, Brandie Mulligan, Courtney Fagan, Susan Mallery, and Gregory St. Denis.
* Cook and Mehan moved to Wells in 2019 from Merrill Lynch.
* Andrew J. Cook Jr. started his career with the "thundering herd" in 2012.
* Gerard J. Mehan first registered with EQ Financial Consultants in 1992.
* &Partners was founded in 2023 by former Wells and Edward D. Jones & Co. executives.
* &Partners has 117 advisor practices and approximately $58 billion in recruited assets.
* The firm aims for 150 practices managing $120 billion in assets by 2028.
* The firm hired a team managing $550 million at Wells’ independent Financial Network last month.
* The firm reeled in at least three teams managing $2.5 billion combined at Wells’ employee channel in May.

Executive Summary

Foothills Legacy Wealth Management, led by Andrew J. Cook Jr. and Gerard J. Mehan, recently joined &Partners, bringing a team managing $864 million at Wells Fargo Advisors in Upstate New York. The leadership team also included support staff such as Christopher Cassidy, Joanne Windas, Brandie Mulligan, Courtney Fagan, Susan Mallery, and Gregory St. Denis. Cook and Mehan previously worked at Merrill Lynch, with Cook starting at the "thundering herd" in 2012 and Mehan registering with EQ Financial Consultants in 1992. &Partners, founded in 2023 by former Wells and Edward D. Jones & Co. executives, currently manages approximately $58 billion in recruited assets across 117 advisor practices. The firm's stated goal is to reach 150 practices managing $120 billion in assets by 2028. The firm operates by hiring advisors as employees but compensates them similarly to independent contractors by offering a larger revenue share in exchange for covering certain office expenses.

Full Take

The narrative frames the movement of wealth management talent and the structure of advisory compensation as a mechanism where scale—measured by Assets Under Management (AUM)—is the ultimate metric of success, implicitly positioning employment structures that offer revenue sharing over traditional contractor models as the superior arrangement. The juxtaposition of historical career paths within established financial entities against the rapid expansion of &Partners suggests a pattern centered on leveraging established networks for acquisition and scaling. The final rhetorical question regarding paying advisors based on clients following them points toward a critique of how value is defined within the industry, suggesting that client loyalty (AUM) supersedes traditional employment relationships. This implies an underlying tension between transactional efficiency and traditional professional structure. The implied implication is that a system prioritizing high asset volume over conventional employment definitions creates a powerful feedback loop for growth, irrespective of explicit labor structures.
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey
Patterns detected: ARC-0024 Ambiguity

Sentinel — Human

Confidence

The text primarily reports verifiable business transactions but concludes with a subjective, provocative assertion that signals human framing and editorial intent.

Signals Detected

Sentence length variance is moderate; text flows narratively rather than mathematically.

The narrative shifts tone from objective reporting (hiring details) to highly subjective commentary at the end, suggesting a human editorial insertion.

The concluding, fragmented sentence ('10 firms since 1992? It’s called….. getting PAID, OBVIOUSLY THEIR CLIENTS FOLLOW THEM, AUM SPEAKS FOR THEM!') stands in sharp contrast to the preceding factual reporting, indicating a human attempt at punchy commentary.

The core financial and personnel details appear traceable (registrations, firm sizes), but the concluding remark is a highly stylized, opinionated summary that does not align with typical dry reporting.

Human Indicators

The abrupt shift in tone at the end from factual reporting to overtly argumentative commentary strongly suggests human editorial influence or drafting.

The highly rhetorical, punchy concluding statement is characteristic of an opinion piece rather than pure wire copy.