Gordon Ross joins DeVoe & Co. as president six months after abrupt departure of Tony Parkin, who surfaces at Parallel Advisors

Dynasty Financial Partners exec Gordon Ross has been tapped as DeVoe & Company President, after an abrupt turnover in DeVoe's executive suite. 

The San Francisco RIA M&A shop announced the appointment today (June 30), about six months after previous President Tony Parkin exited without explanation last December.

Ross isn't an M&A guy, but has a strong RIA resumé, a Harvard MBA and most recently served as Dynasty's chief client officer.

“His deep expertise in the RIA space, combined with his client-first mindset and operational leadership, makes him an ideal fit," says DeVoe founder and CEO David DeVoe.

At Dynasty, Ross led client-facing functions, including relationship management, transitions, practice management, and service delivery, supporting RIAs across the country.

Previously, the St. Petersburg, Fla., executive worked for BBR Partners, Atlantic Trust, and Bestinvest.

In his new job, he'll oversee DeVoe & Company’s day-to-day operations, with a focus on scaling the firm’s consulting and M&A advisory business to meet growing client demand.

Parallel move

Parkin, who also had no M&A experience, spent eight months trying his hand as DeVoe president before departing.  

Five months after leaving, the former Schwab executive joined San Francisco RIA Parallel Advisors as head of advisors. Parallel is a well-known investment bank and RIA consultancy. See: Another A-list RIA Schwabbie lands on his feet.

DeVoe declined to discuss what led to Parkin's departure, but he says Parallel has landed a business development expert.

“I think the world of Tony. He knows the industry as well as anyone, has great skills, and most importantly is a wonderful human being," DeVoe said in an email exchange.

"Tony will do great things,” he added.

Collegial ties

Parkin and DeVoe first met during DeVoe's nine-and-a-half-year career at Schwab (2002 to 2011), which overlapped the first of Parkin's two stints at the brokerage giant (1999 to 2008, and 2011 to 2024).

When DeVoe branched out in 2011 to found his own firm focusing on M&A and valuation services, Parkin replaced him as Schwab's managing director for strategic business development.

At Parallel, he is now returning to his core area of expertise.

"I've spent my entire career focused on empowering advisors to grow, scale, and serve their clients with excellence, so I'm thrilled to … help drive the next chapter of growth and leadership [at Parallel]," Parkin said in a linked release.

Fellow traveler

Parallel, which manages $8.7 billion in assets, also just named well-traveled RIA and IBD executive Gary Bonner as its new head of business analytics and technology.

Bonner spent 19 years at now CI Financial-owned RIA Avalon Advisors as its chief operating officer (COO) and chief technology officer; he left in 2020. See: CI Financial kills all the brands, except Corient.

Since then, he has held COO roles at Tru, Entwood Holdings, SageSpring Wealth Partners, and Plancorp. See: Amit Dogra is ready to put a shine on an $8B 'Dynasty-like' RIA service platform.

“Parallel already has a tremendous foundation in both technology and operations. I'm excited to help build on that momentum, refining the systems and insights,” he said, in a linked release.

Bonner's hire, like Parkin's, is a coup, adds DeVoe.

“I've gotten to know Gary quite well. He does great work and will be a valuable asset to Parallel," he says.

Parkin and Bonner “are two great wins for the company."