Kestra Financial, a wealth management platform, appointed Kristan Garner as head of client service and John Milligan as head of operations. These appointments strengthen the firm’s operations and client experience leadership as Kestra continues to scale support for its growing community of financial professionals and their clients across both Kestra Financial and its breakaway-advisor channel, Kestra Private Wealth Services (PWS).
Garner will lead the firm’s client service organization, overseeing advisor service, technology solutions and account services with a focus on elevating the experience for advisors and their clients. She brings more than 15 years of experience in financial services and investment operations, joining from Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), where she most recently served as director of operations, leading global operations and contact center teams. Prior to that, she spent nearly a decade in investment operations roles at USAA.
Milligan joins Kestra Financial as head of operations and will oversee the firm’s core operational functions, including trading, cashiering, producer compensation and fee billing. He brings more than two decades of financial services experience, with deep operations leadership across brokerage and capital markets, joining from Truist Bank, where he most recently served as executive vice president, head of capital markets operations. During his tenure at Truist, he led broker-dealer operations and helped guide the integration of SunTrust and BB&T’s brokerage businesses into Truist Investment Services. Earlier, he held field and operations leadership roles at Ameriprise Financial. A U.S. Navy veteran, he is a CFP professional.
These appointments build on Kestra’s ongoing investment in operations and client experience, including the appointment of Angela Xavier as executive vice president, client experience officer, and the establishment of a secondary headquarters in Tempe, AZ, to anchor its client service and operations teams. Garner and Milligan will play key roles in advancing the firm’s commitment to operational excellence, service quality, and a seamless experience for advisors and their clients.
“When I joined Kestra, it was because of the firm’s clear commitment to the advisor and client experience,” Xavier said. “We’re focused on building the leadership, infrastructure, and service model needed to deliver an exceptional experience for advisors and their clients. Kristan and John bring deep expertise in client service and operations, and their leadership will help us continue raising the bar for efficiency and operational excellence across the advisor experience.”
