WealthManagement.com reported on November 2, 2026 that Callie Cox has left Ritholtz Wealth Management for Plancorp Wealth Management, where she will work on investment strategy and research with Chief Investment Officer Peter Lazaroff. Plancorp announced the hire the same day, saying Cox joined as director of investment strategy. InvestmentNews also covered the move the following day.
According to Plancorp's announcement, Cox will help shape the firm's investment strategy, portfolio direction and strategic priorities alongside Lazaroff. Her remit includes synthesizing market research, contributing to investment committee discussions, and translating the firm's investment philosophy for advisors and clients. Plancorp CEO Chris Kerckhoff praised her ability to make complex ideas accessible to audiences outside financial services. InvestmentNews described her as bringing strong market communication skills to a firm it called one of the fastest-growing fee-only firms in the US.
The Plancorp release says Cox joins from Ritholtz, where she served as chief market strategist. A Ritholtz spokesperson did not immediately respond to WealthManagement.com's request for comment. NewsBeep reported that Cox announced in an August newsletter that she was leaving Ritholtz, and that she said she wanted to change the direction of her career and step back from frequent public market commentary.
Cox's career history, as InvestmentNews recounted it, began with a reporting role at Bloomberg after a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina. Her later roles included positions at Ally, LPL Financial and First Citizens Bank. InvestmentNews recounted that she was an investment analyst at eToro, but her LinkedIn profile describes her as head of US research there, and that title has not been verified. Plancorp's release also credits Cox with starting OptimistiCallie, a publication that addresses markets, economic developments and investing for ordinary individual investors.
Ritholtz announced Cox's hiring as chief market strategist on June 17, 2024, according to a Business Wire release from the firm. At that time Ritholtz said it oversaw more than $4 billion in assets. The role was based in the firm's new Charlotte office, and Cox joined its investment committee, according to LifeHealth's report on the hire.
Ritholtz is an independent, 100 percent employee-owned RIA headquartered in New York City. InvestmentNews reported that the firm oversaw more than $7.6 billion across 15 US offices as of January 2026. Form ADV-based figures cited by AdvisorGuide put its assets at about $7.7 billion. According to InvestmentNews, in January 2026 Ritholtz launched a decade-long succession arrangement that moved equity to 29 workers, with co-founder Barry Ritholtz selling down his holding and no outside investors putting in money. According to RIABiz, the firm had crossed the $900 million mark in 2019 and reached $2.2 billion by 2022, the year Jay Tini took the president's role. The same outlet names co-founder Josh Brown as CEO and the largest of the 29 new shareholders.
Plancorp, a fee-only fiduciary firm, is compensated by clients rather than through commissions or product sales, according to the firm's website. Plancorp says it has been headquartered in St. Louis for more than 40 years, reports more than 100 employees and serves clients in 46 states. SmartAsset's review says the firm was founded in 1983 as FFG Plancorp, Inc., and took its current name two years later. The firm charges 1% on the first $2 million under management, with rates lowering above that level, according to its get-started page.
Plancorp's assets figures vary by source. Its location pages cite $10.1 billion in assets under management, based on combined firm metrics from December 31, 2025 and February 5, 2026, while another Plancorp page says it manages over $10.2 billion in client assets. NewsBeep reported $10.5 billion. SmartAsset's older snapshot lists about $9.9 billion and 50 advisors. The firm's website also says Regency Investment Advisors has joined Plancorp, though the release date is not given. A 2019 release described Plancorp as a partly owned subsidiary of Prumentum Group; Financial ADVSR has not verified current ownership.
Investment strategy roles sit between research, committee work and client communication, so a hire in that seat shows where a firm wants to focus its messaging to advisors and clients. For recruiters and firm leaders, the move is a reminder that market-facing senior talent changes firms regularly, and that a firm's public-facing research voice is often part of what it is hiring for.
The next visible step is Ritholtz's response, which had not been published at the time of the reports. Plancorp has said Cox will take on the role of director of investment strategy and work with Lazaroff on the firm's investment direction. Financial ADVSR will update this story if Ritholtz comments.