Ferian Nickelson
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer of VestGen Wealth Partners, Ferian Nickelson brings a wealth of experience in financial operations and advisor solutions. She is responsible for leading operational excellence, creating an integrated platform experience and executing the company’s strategy. Prior to joining VestGen, Ferian has held several growth-oriented roles successfully building products, services and platforms catering to financial advisors, end-client investors, and financial institutions at brands such as BNY Pershing, LPL Financial, Northern Trust, HighTower Advisors, and Morgan Stanley. Ferian’s expertise driving go-to-market strategy implementation and scaling businesses is crucial to VestGen’s growth strategy. She holds a B.S. from Fordham Gabelli School of Business.
Josh Gerry
Chief Executive Officer
Josh Gerry is redefining succession planning for wealth advisors.
Widely recognized as one of the industry’s leading voices on advisor succession, Josh Gerry is CEO of VestGen Wealth Partners and a 2025 Luminaries Finalist in the M&A Leader of the Year category. He spearheaded the unprecedented merger of 10 advisory practices in December 2024 to launch VestGen, creating a fully integrated wealth management firm that empowers advisors to transition with confidence and aims to ensure clients’ continuity of care across generations. His leadership was recently profiled in a full-page InvestmentNews feature, “Seeking Success from Succession.”
With more than three decades in wealth management, Josh brings deep experience in succession, M&A, and growth strategy. Prior to VestGen, he co-founded Professional Wealth Advisors, LLC, where he scaled the firm to over $10 billion in assets while guiding advisors through successful practice transitions. He later served as CEO of Impetus Wealth Strategies, securing capital commitments to fuel advisor succession and expansion. His earlier leadership roles at AXA and MetLife gave him a deep understanding of large-scale advisor transitions across enterprise firms.
At VestGen, Josh leads the firm’s mission to solve one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: the $13 trillion in assets expected to transition as nearly 40% of advisors retire in the next decade. Josh brings both credibility and conviction to building the next generation of advisor leadership. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and contributes thought leadership on the future of succession planning and advisor M&A.
Josh holds a B.S. in Business Economics from UCLA.