Coldstream Wealth Management Enhances Leadership Team with Addition of Matt Sonnen As Chief Operating Officer

Successful RIA Consultant and Veteran Operations Executive will Focus on Supporting Firm's Strategic Growth Initiatives and Scaling its Business

SEATTLE, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Coldstream Wealth Management ("Coldstream" or "the firm") – an employee-owned, independently operated wealth management firm – today announced the appointment of Matt Sonnen as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Sonnen will continue to build out Coldstream's operational platform and identify opportunities to scale and systematize its business. He will report to Kevin Fitzwilson, the firm's Managing Shareholder. 

In this role, Sonnen, with over 25 years of industry experience, will work to standardize and optimize back-office operations for the multiple registered investment advisor (RIA) partners that have joined the firm over the past few years. In addition, he will be tasked with simplifying the onboarding of future merger partners as the firm's growth accelerates. The firm's Operations, Information Technology, Performance Reporting, Client Service, and Salesforce CRM teams will report to Sonnen.

"I am delighted that Matt has joined the Coldstream team," Fitzwilson said. "Based on his experience, reputation, and unique leadership skills, he could have joined any firm in the industry, but the fact that he decided to join ours is a further testament to the strength of Coldstream's culture and the extent to which our employee ownership model has turned heads across the industry. In the years ahead, we look forward to Matt further streamlining our operations, which will not only benefit our current advisors but allow us to more seamlessly incorporate future merger partners as we continue to ramp up our long-term growth strategy." 

Before joining Coldstream, Sonnen founded and served as CEO of PFI Advisors, a successful RIA consultancy firm. There, he and his team supported RIA owners and their operations professionals by helping them to create the infrastructure and scale needed to allow their businesses to grow both top-line revenues and bottom-line profitability.

Sonnen began his financial services career as an analyst at Merrill Lynch in the late 1990s. In 2005, he left the firm to serve as COO and CCO of Luminous Capital. After Luminous was sold in 2012, Sonnen became Vice President of Strategic Operations at Focus Financial Partners, where he worked with breakaway advisors transitioning to independence. In 2015, he launched PFI Advisors with his wife and business partner, Larissa Sonnen. Sonnen has a B.A. in economics from UCLA.

Sonnen said, "I was initially intrigued to learn how Coldstream achieved its size, quality, and growth prospects without taking on private equity money. Then, after I began to learn more about Coldstream's unique vision and values, I became even more interested in becoming a part of the team. I am excited to join the Coldstream family and to create the best possible experience for employees, advisors, and clients."

About Coldstream Wealth Management
Coldstream Wealth Management is an employee-owned, independently operated wealth management firm that has been earning the trust of high net-worth clients since 1996. The firm guides clients through the complexity of wealth management so that they can have peace of mind while achieving their financial and lifestyle goals. Coldstream has offices in Bellevue, Seattle and Mercer Island, Washington; Boise, Idaho; Kenai, Alaska and Portland, Oregon. The firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coldstream Holdings, Inc. For more information, please visit https://www.coldstream.com/.

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SOURCE Coldstream Wealth Management