Kestra Financial, an Austin, Texas-based independent broker-dealer and wealth management platform, has named Kristan Garner as Head of Client Service and John Milligan as Head of Operations. The two appointments are intended to reinforce the firm's operations and client experience leadership as it expands support for financial professionals and their clients across both Kestra Financial and its breakaway-advisor channel, Kestra Private Wealth Services (Kestra PWS). The hires come as competition among independent broker-dealers for advisor talent intensifies, with operational infrastructure and service quality increasingly serving as differentiators for firms seeking to attract and retain advisors transitioning from wirehouses or consolidating platforms.

Garner will oversee the Client Service organization, covering advisor service, technology solutions, and account services, with a focus on improving the experience for advisors and their clients. She brings more than 15 years of experience in financial services and investment operations. Garner joins from Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), where she most recently served as Director of Operations, leading global operations and contact center teams. Prior to FIS, she spent nearly a decade in investment operations roles at USAA.

Milligan will lead Kestra Financial's core operational functions, including trading, cashiering, producer compensation, and fee billing. He brings over two decades of financial services experience with operations leadership spanning brokerage and capital markets. Milligan joins from Truist Bank, where he served as EVP, 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 in his career, he held field and operations leadership roles at Ameriprise Financial. A U.S. Navy veteran, Milligan is a CFP® professional.

These hires build on Kestra's broader investment in operations and client experience, which includes the appointment of Angela Xavier as Executive Vice President (EVP), Client Experience Officer, and the establishment of a secondary headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, designed to anchor its client service and operations teams. The Tempe expansion reflects a broader industry pattern of wealth management firms building out geographically distributed service hubs to scale support capacity alongside advisor growth.

"When I joined Kestra, it was because of the firm's clear commitment to the advisor and client experience," said Angela Xavier, EVP, Client Experience Officer at Kestra Financial. "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."

In their new roles, Garner and Milligan are expected to advance the firm's goals in operational excellence, service quality, and delivering a seamless experience for advisors and their clients.