New York City-based Cerity Partners said Wednesday that it is merging with Verus Investments, an institutional investment consulting and advisory firm that provides services to clients with about $1.2 trillion in assets. Cerity expects the merger to close at the end of the first quarter.
Verus has offices in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle, according to its website.
“The addition of Verus will expand Cerity Partners’ presence in Seattle and deepen Cerity Partners’ existing presence in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Pittsburgh,” a Cerity spokesperson told WSR.
After the merger, Cerity will advise on and provide services to individual and institutional clients with assets totaling about $1.3 trillion, it said.
Verus will take the Cerity Partners brand after the transaction closes.
Welcoming the Verus team to Cerity, Kurt Miscinski, its CEO, said in a news release, “We are thrilled to welcome our new colleagues from Verus, which brings decades of experience and incredible expertise in helping institutions achieve their financial goals. This partnership meaningfully expands our leadership in the institutional space and strengthens our ability to serve clients of all sizes, complexities, and delegation preferences.”
“Cerity Partners is a firm that shares our values: independence, trust, expertise, and diligence,” Jeffrey MacLean, CEO of Verus, said in the news release.
MacLean added, “By combining our institutional expertise with Cerity Partners’ scale and resources, our clients will continue to receive the personalized, fiduciary-driven guidance they rely upon, from the same professionals they have trusted for years, now supported by an even broader set of capabilities and expertise.”
Houlihan Lokey advised Verus on the merger, Cerity said.
This is the third merger announced by Cerity so far this year, following SOL Capital Management, based in Rockville, Maryland, and Texas-based RIA Austin Private Wealth with $1.4 billion in assets under management (AUM), both announced early last month.
As of Dec. 31, Cerity had AUM of $156 billion, the spokesperson said.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
