Sowell Management Leadership
Bill Sowell
CEO / PRESIDENT
Bill began his career in the financial services industry in 1990 and quickly became a top producer within the industry. In 1995, he began a fee-only practice now known as Sowell Management, which services a broad spectrum of some of the top Independent Advisor Representatives (IARs), and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the United States. He and his wife, Cindy, have worked as a team for more than 20 years.
Bill has strong roots in the community. He has served as past president of the Rotary Club of Little Rock and was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He has been a board member and is past chair of Leadership Greater Little Rock and is a past board member of numerous other nonprofit organizations. He was named to AY Magazine’s 2021 Men of Distinction. Bill enjoys golfing, boating and duck hunting.
Bill is a bridge builder. He is passionate about helping advisors see an independent and prosperous future and guiding them through the entire journey.
Daryl Seaton
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
A native of Northern California, Daryl began his career in financial services in 2000 with a Fortune 100 company in Sacramento, Calif. Swiftly becoming a top producer, he was promoted and in due course held responsibilities for recruiting, developing, and leading 150-plus agents/financial advisors with more than $1 billion in assets under care. Pursuing autonomy and ready to put his vision and insights into action, he formed his own firm, first as a hybrid and then as an RIA. It was at this time that Daryl began his partnership with Sowell Management.
After a robust eight-year relationship, Daryl accepted an invitation in 2020 to join the Sowell Management team. As chief operating officer, his role as an integrator is taking the company to the next peak of growth. Daryl is central to the growth planning that remains focused on new horizons for advisors, varying the offerings, and integrated technologies. Daryl’s love of people shines through and carries into his work as a servant leader. He is particularly passionate about financial advisors and the vital mission they execute daily. After more than 20 years, Daryl considers himself to be a true seasoned leader in finance. His career has spanned both corporate, business ownership and community involvement.
Daryl is an outdoor enthusiast and food and wine aficionado. By far, his pride and joy is his family. With the love of his life, Tammy, they are raising two boys of great character and faith – Jake and Nate.
Chuck Hicks
CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER
Charles “Chuck” C. Hicks, Jr., nurtures many things in his life, but his respect and support of Sowell Management’s advisors is evident every single day. His vision and natural ability to lead the Sowell Management customer care team is shared with all and helps guide the company. Chuck serves as Chief Customer Officer, ensuring Sowell Management is positioned to provide the first-class service our advisor partners and their valued clients expect and deserve.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Henderson State University with a dual major in management and marketing, he began his professional career with a Fortune 200 manufacturing company. A decade later, Chuck had been elevated to vice president and general manager of one of the company’s most profitable divisions.
Chuck began his financial services career with Sowell Management in 2001 as a senior vice president of business development before being promoted in 2015 to chief operating officer, then to president in 2017. He provides first-hand expertise in the areas of manufacturing and distribution systems, sales and marketing plans, mergers and acquisitions and financial analysis gained from his extensive experience with his own consulting firm, formed in the mid-1990s.
Chuck will tell you he lives a grateful and blessed life surrounded by his proudest achievement ̶ his family. He is married to Sara, and the couple has two daughters, one son and now five precious grandchildren. He lives in North Little Rock, Ark.
Cindy Sowell
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Cindy Sowell has served in many key roles at Sowell Management. In addition to her active management of the company, Cindy oversees human resources. Her penchant for creating global connections with companies and inspiring colleagues across the world, as well as her extensive knowledge of all things travel, guides her as she envisions and coordinates the firm’s corporate meetings, conferences, and special events. Cindy’s favorite part of her role is building lasting relationships within, and beyond, the Sowell Management team.
Prior to joining Sowell Management, Cindy worked around the globe for Pacific Life Insurance as a corporate meeting planner. Her experience working with the corporate staff and financial advisors at Pacific Life has been an invaluable asset to her daily interaction with Sowell Management’s financial advisors.
Cindy enjoys traveling with her family, her dog Tess, and is an avid physical fitness enthusiast. She is married to Bill and has two stepchildren, Abby and Evan. She resides in North Little Rock, Ark.
Rod Kresge
CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
Rod has worked in the financial services industry since 1995, after earning a bachelor’s degree in political science following his sojourn in the US Army. He has served in numerous senior leadership positions in compliance, operations, and supervision, where he was responsible for the enhancement and continued development of company compliance programs. He worked as a compliance consultant with companies across the country where he brought a fresh perspective and best-practice solutions to this important core competency.
Since joining the company in 2019, Rod’s full-spectrum expertise and practical, real-world knowledge have brought Sowell Management a defining edge in the areas of compliance, operations, and supervision. He has more than two decades’ experience with an array of broker/dealers and registered investment advisory firms as regional sales supervisor, operations manager and chief compliance officer. Rod appreciates the rewarding interactions with all the people he meets in connection to his work with Sowell Management.
Living in Atlanta with his wife Elizabeth and sons, Hunter and Chase, Rod is active in his community with the Boy Scouts of America, is a member of the Cobb County Community Emergency Response Team, and a member of the American Legion. Rod is an avid reader who holds a personal fondness for technology that is always on – a hard-bound book.
Erin Taylor
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Originally from New York, Erin came to Arkansas to run cross-country and track competitively at the University of Arkansas and fell in love with marketing along the way. After more than 30 years, Erin would consider herself a true seasoned marketer, beginning her career as a copywriter and eventually growing her own agency. In 2000, she sold her firm and moved to Little Rock, beginning a career building brands and diving deeply into all aspects of digital and direct marketing during her tenure as director of direct marketing with Alltel Telecommunications and VP of global marketing with Acxiom. Her career has spanned both agency and corporate assignments, public and private sectors, consumer and B2B markets.
Erin cherishes the opportunity to shape Sowell Management’s advisors’ business by engaging with them to find their brand voice and defining what makes them unique. She is passionate about the substantial impact a well-defined brand can have in their success.
An entrepreneur at heart, Erin and her husband, Gary, owned Go! Running, a popular running store in Little Rock for a decade. She is an outdoor lover, runner, hiker, horseback rider and loves taking her three dogs out to explore trails. She and Gary have four children – Reed, Jordan, Brendan and Kieran, and one very special grandbaby, Brady, with twin grandbabies on the way! “Never underestimate someone. Give them their moment, believe in them and they rise to it.” Words to live by according to Erin.
Elyse Smith
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ADVISOR SUPPORT & BUSINESS TRANSITIONS
Elyse has extensive knowledge of the advisor services industry ̶ servicing advisors, helping firms create operational efficiencies, and finding solutions to complex issues. After moving to New York, Elyse has spent the entirety of her career in financial services working with Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). Formerly with Schwab and TD Ameritrade as director of advisor services and business transitions, Elyse managed onboarding for large RIAs and led a team of senior managers, data and technology specialists, and trainers across the nation.
She joined Sowell Management’s team in 2021 as managing director of Advisor Services and Business Transitions. She has 15 years’ experience in advisor and transition services, and relationship management and holds her 7, 63 and 24 licenses.
Elyse graduated from Binghamton University in New York with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She met her husband Allen at TD Ameritrade 10 years ago and they live in Fort Worth, Texas, with their goldendoodle, Barkley. Elyse is a huge NY Giants fan so NFL Sunday’s are a big deal at their house.
Thomas Knight, CFP®️
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DATA & TECHNOLOGY
Thomas, a Certified Financial Planner, grew up in the Central Texas area and earned a double major in economics and philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He began his career at NFP Advisor Services Group, a top 10 independent broker-dealer in Austin, rising to vice president of business development and working with breakaways and other financial advisors considering independence.
Thomas served as vice president and chief operating officer of three retail wealth management firms before joining Sowell Management in 2017. His experience and flexibility have afforded Sowell Management the advantage of his talents in many different areas of focus. He heads Sowell Financial Advisors, the arm of the firm that provides advisors with outsourced financial planning, and is the managing director of Data and Technology. He has a keen sense of strategy, attention to detail and a focus on execution.
Arkansas has presented Thomas the ability to enjoy the beautiful river trail where he can be seen regularly cycling to work. He also enjoys running and the Texas Longhorns, is an admitted coffee snob. He lives with his wife Jennifer and daughter Ruby in downtown Little Rock, Ark.
Dick Wyatt
CONTROLLER
Richard “Dick” H. Wyatt, a native Arkansan, joined Sowell Management in 2020 and serves as controller and lead for the accounting division. He began his career with IBM in Little Rock, before taking an opportunity as treasurer for McLarty Leasing Systems, where he was promoted to vice president and subsequently president. In 1977, Dick teamed up with Mickey Lavender to form Lavender & Wyatt Systems, Inc., which operated a data service bureau and developed a software application for Community Mental Health Centers.
He attended The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he received a BSBA and MBA. Dick brings with him years of experience in both technology and accounting. After a few years off to recover from a bilateral lung transplant, Dick returned to the workforce as the chief information officer for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. He is a retired Certified Public Accountant.
He enjoys traveling, horse racing, spending time with family and friends, and relaxing at Lake Hamilton. Dick and his wife, Olivia, live in Little Rock, Ark.