Invest Financial Fires 2 Top Managers In Overhaul Following March

Invest Financial Corp., which helps banks run their brokerages, is laying off staff as part of a companywide restructuring.

The Tampa-based company on Friday fired its chief financial officer, Louis Newtson, and its director of marketing, John Richter.

A third officer, Linda Williamson, director of education, resigned for personal reasons, a spokeswoman said.

The staff cuts follow Invest's merger in March with Investment Centers of America in Bismarck, N.D. Both companies were simultaneously acquired by First American Corp. in Nashville, Tenn.

The spokeswoman said Invest has also eliminated other positions that were made redundant by the March merger, but she declined to say how many.

"This streamlining allows us to more effectively serve financial institutions of all sizes, from small community banks to large regional and national banks," Invest's chairman Merlin Gackle told employees Friday.

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