July 21, 2026
By Ali Hibbs
Cresset, a Chicago-based RIA overseeing more than $260 billion in client assets, has recruited a duo who were advising on around $1.1 billion at Lazard Asset Management.
Christopher P. Tiano and Nicholas W. Smith joined Cresset in Los Angeles and New York, respectively. They moved on June 23, according to registration records.
Tiano had been with Lazard for about two years, having joined in July 2024 from Focus Financial Partners, where he had led its client referral network. Before that, he had worked as a business development director at institutional-focused RIA Glenmede, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Smith, who had also been with Lazard for about two years, worked at a trust company before he first registered as an advisor at Merrill Lynch in 2021.
A spokesperson for Lazard did not immediately return a request for comment. While it is mostly known for its investment bank and $259 billion asset management business, Lazard Wealth oversaw around $8.4 billion as of December 2025, according to regulatory filings.
For Cresset, the hire is the latest in a growth push being led by Susie Cranston, a former First Republic Bank executive who took over as Chief Executive Officer in April. Cranston replaced co-founders Eric Becker and Avy Stein. It last month recruited a billion-dollar private banker from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Denver.
Cresset is majority-owned by its employees and clients with a minority investment from private equity firms Constellation Wealth Capital and Blue Owl Capital, which also owns a piece of Constellation.
