NewEdge Wealth, LLC, a registered investment advisor specializing in servicing the needs of ultra high net worth and high net worth families, family offices and institutional clients, announced today that Alex Watts has joined as a Principal.

Watts, who joins from Merrill Lynch Private Wealth, brings more than 20 years of experience helping business owners, entrepreneurs and multi-generational families. He helps his clients manage transactions, credit, recapitalization and portfolio structure. Watts also serves as a central point of coordination, aligning key professionals who support the needs of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, including attorneys, CPAs and commercial and investment bankers.

"Entrepreneurs and ultra high net worth families have complex wealth management needs that can span generations," said Rob Sechan, Co-Founder and CEO of NewEdge Wealth. "Alex’s knowledge of private investment assets, history of working with those clients and relationships with other critical professionals in the space will complement NewEdge Wealth’s services and enhance the services offered by our Atlanta office. We look forward to having him on our team."

Watts began his wealth management career as an investment analyst at GenSpring Family Office and later to J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He spent a decade at Merrill Lynch, rising from Assistant Vice President to Senior Vice President, before moving to NewEdge Wealth.

NewEdge’s open-architecture model, which provides access to research, investments and credit solutions at several financial institutions, drew Watts to the firm.

Watts added, "I've always strived to be the kind of advisor my clients deserve — sitting fully on their side of the table, with the independence to bring the best solution across the market. At NewEdge, I've finally found the platform to deliver on that fully — open architecture and a technology suite that's a generational leap beyond the large firms."

NewEdge Wealth has more than 60 ultra high net worth advisors across 16 locations, including Miami, Nashville and San Francisco.