April Ferrell: New Leader at IWI, Championing Diversity in Investment Education

Denver, CO - July 19, 2023 - The Investments & Wealth Institute announced today that it has named April Ferrell, CIMA^®, as Managing Director of Business Development and Executive Director of the Investments & Wealth Foundation. In this new role, Ferrell will have the dual responsibility of building and managing relationships with corporate industry partners for their talent and development needs, as well as leading the operational and fundraising efforts of The Foundation, the Institute’s 501 (c) (3) organization that provide scholarships to underrepresented individuals to pursue Certified Investment Management Analyst^® (CIMA^®), Certified Private Wealth Advisor^® (CPWA^®), and/or Retirement Management Advisor^® (RMA^®) certifications.

”April brings a strong breadth and depth of proven experience in delivering insights and solutions that help advisors and financial institutions understand how to manage their businesses as effectively as possible, “ said Sean R. Walters, CAE, Chief Executive Officer for the Institute. ”Moreover, April brings a passion and commitment to help improve the diversity of certified advisors in our industry, and we welcome her leadership abilities to bolster the role that the Foundation plays in reducing the barrier to certification through scholarship.”

Ferrell most recently was with Barron’s Group, where she was Global Managing Director Wealth & Asset Management, heading up partnerships and relationships with the asset manager community across the globe. She also managed content from the asset manager cohort for Barron’s Advisor Summits, which included all advisor channels and wealth management firms. Ferrell originally joined Barron’s in 2010 as the National Sponsorship Manager. Previously, she was SVP, National Accounts Manager with BNY Mellon/Dreyfus, and spent five years with J&W Seligman in National Accounts. Ferrell holds a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia. She is also a CIMA^® certified member of the Institute and was the winner of the 2022 Morgan Stanley Association of Professional Investment Consultants Champion Award. Ferrell will report to Tim Whiting, Chief Revenue Officer for the Institute, and she will be based in the New York City area.

”I can personally attest to the Institute’s commitment to life-long learning and adherence to ethical standards as I pursued my CIMA certification early on my career, which helped open the door to many professional opportunities for me and helped lead me to this next exciting chapter,” Ferrell said. “I look forward to working with new co-workers and member volunteers to showcase the incredible value that both the Institute and Foundation bring to the advice profession at-large.”