At a glance
- Keane reports to Joe Skarda, head of Key Wealth, and takes over integrated delivery of the division's financial planning, investment, fiduciary and banking capabilities, the operating work of making four service lines read to clients as one relationship.
- Keane joins a division that added 53 net advisors in 2025, taking headcount to 543, while assets under management rose 14% year over year to $70 billion, according to InvestmentNews.
- Keane said he looks forward to partnering with Skarda and the wealth leadership team to "continue driving growth and innovation for our clients and advisors."
KeyBank has named Mike Keane chief operating officer of Key Wealth effective October 1, 2026, reaching into Wilmington Trust for an operations veteran as Joe Calabrese prepares to retire after more than three decades in wealth management. Keane reports to Joe Skarda, head of Key Wealth, and takes over integrated delivery of the division's financial planning, investment, fiduciary and banking capabilities, the operating work of making four service lines read to clients as one relationship. He brings more than 25 years across wealth management, brokerage and banking; at M&T Bank's Wilmington Trust, he led growth and modernization initiatives aimed at client and advisor experiences, according to KeyBank's announcement, and is based in Baltimore.
Fifty-three net adds, and a $100 billion target
Keane joins a division that added 53 net advisors in 2025, taking headcount to 543, while assets under management rose 14% year over year to $70 billion, according to InvestmentNews. The Cleveland-based bank has set a $100 billion AUM target for 2030, a roughly 43% climb from current levels that arithmetic suggests will be closed by hiring rather than markets.
"Mike is a proven financial services leader with deep experience driving growth, modernizing operating models, and building high-performing teams," Skarda said, citing his track record leading transformation across wealth management and banking as well suited to guiding "the next chapter of our business." Keane said he looks forward to partnering with Skarda and the wealth leadership team to "continue driving growth and innovation for our clients and advisors."
Wilmington Trust has now supplied the top of two wealth businesses in less than two months. In August, Fiduciary Trust Company named Doris Meister, a former Wilmington Trust chair and chief executive, as its president and CEO; Keane's move gives the firm a second C-suite placement in the same window.
Calabrese joined Key Wealth in 2016 and will remain through year-end to support the transition. Skarda credited him with shaping the division's growth strategy, operating model and client-experience capabilities across nearly a decade and called his impact on the organization lasting.
Keane starts with a 543-advisor base, a five-year runway to the $100 billion target, and a mandate the announcement describes as transformation. The figure to watch next is Key Wealth's 2026 net advisor adds, which will say whether this COO job is integration or recruiting.
Reported by the Moves desk from InvestmentNews and PWD archive. Published . Corrections