In this week’s roundup, Arax agreed to buy Transcend Capital; Moors & Cabot added the Coker & Palmer team; Ameriprise recruited Sher Jeshiva Group and Kevin King; RBC recruited KPM Wealth; Cresset hired Chris Tiano and Nick Smith; Moneta opened a U.K. office through a partnership with Thomson Tyndall; Civic Financial selected Altruist as its custodian and wealth management platform; Carson launched an employee equity program; Advisor360° appointed Ananya Balaram as Chief Revenue Officer; Fidelis Capital named Herb Achey a Partner; Cerulli examined the organic growth challenges facing RIAs; AdvizorPro mapped 315 acquisitions; and Berkshire Global reported a nearly 40% increase in first-half wealth management deal activity.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Arax Agrees To Acquire Transcend Capital Advisors
Arax Advisory Partners signed a definitive agreement to acquire Transcend Capital Advisors, an independent RIA with more than $3 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of June 30. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, would make Transcend the seventh firm to join Arax in 2026. Transcend has offices in New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island and Florida.
Founded in 2019 by former New York Stock Exchange Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer and a group of partners, Transcend’s platform is led by President and Chief Investment Officer Jacob Grossman and Head of Fixed Income Robert Brown. Houlihan Lokey served as Transcend’s financial advisor, and Seward & Kissel served as its legal counsel.
“At Arax, we’ve always believed that exceptional wealth management firms are built around exceptional advisors,” said Haig Ariyan, CEO of Arax. “From our earliest conversations, it was clear that the Transcend team shared that philosophy. They have built an outstanding firm by bringing together seasoned advisors, experienced investment professionals and a steadfast commitment to serving clients.”
Advisor Transactions
Moors & Cabot Adds $650 Million Coker & Palmer Team
Moors & Cabot added the Coker & Palmer team, which manages approximately $650 million in AUM, extending the Boston-based firm’s footprint into Louisiana and Mississippi. Coker & Palmer is led by Founder and President David Coker.
Moors & Cabot assigned back-office personnel to manage the integration and support business continuity while the Coker & Palmer team continues serving clients. Moors & Cabot has more than 20 branches nationwide and provides investment management, insurance and equity-trading services.
Mark Garrett, Executive Chairman of Moors & Cabot, said, “When we find the right fit, we are all in. Face-to-face interaction is critical to building the trust our firm was founded upon. We prioritized time with David and his team, visiting them at their home office and welcoming them to our Boston headquarters, which confirmed that our cultures and visions are perfectly synchronized.”
Ameriprise Adds $630 Million Through Two Recruiting Moves
Ameriprise Financial recruited two practices managing a combined $630 million in client assets. Sher Jeshiva Group joined its branch channel from Wells Fargo Clearing Services with $470 million, while Private Wealth Advisor Kevin King joined the independent channel from Edward Jones with approximately $160 million.
Sher Jeshiva Group operates from Melville, New York, and Naples, Florida, and includes Advisors Glen Sher, Michael Jeshiva and Philip Basile, plus Registered Client Service Associate Kathryn Acer-Richard. More than 90% of the team’s clients had committed to transition, the release said. King is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and cited Ameriprise’s planning tools, direct indexing, estate and tax planning capabilities, and client portal.
King stated, “The move has gone even better than expected. Many of my clients have thanked me for moving and have shared how much they appreciate the ease of the online portal and the enhanced tools and capabilities. It’s rare that a move lives up to the hope that ‘the grass is greener,’ but this experience absolutely has.”
RBC Recruits $1.6 Billion KPM Wealth Advisory Group
RBC Wealth Management – U.S. recruited the six-person KPM Wealth Advisory Group to its Dallas branch from Stifel, where the team previously oversaw nearly $1.6 billion in client assets. The group includes Managing Directors and Financial Advisors Donald Kinsey, Travis Moss and Matthew Pickett, Senior Financial Associates Shawn Ezzo and Stephanie Mareth and Client Associate Jacob Gross.
The group has worked together for more than 25 years. It serves ultra-high net worth clients, particularly business owners, and provides services including credit and lending, complex transactions and tax-aware strategies. Kinsey and Moss began their careers in credit and middle-market investment banking. Pickett has 43 years of industry experience.
Courtney Duphorne, Texas North Complex Director at RBC Wealth Management, said, “I am thrilled to have this team join our Dallas office. The KPM Wealth Advisory Group has built their practice on serving UHNW clients at the highest level, and RBC has the balance sheet and expertise to support that growth. We are proud to welcome this team of professionals who share our unwavering commitment to their clients.”
Cresset Adds $1.1 Billion Former Lazard Advisors
Cresset recruited Chris Tiano and Nick Smith as Managing Directors and Wealth Advisors in Los Angeles and New York, respectively. They joined from Lazard Wealth, where they served as Directors and oversaw $1.1 billion in assets under advisement. Tiano focuses on entrepreneurs and business owners, while Smith advises ultra-high net worth families and institutions on investment management, estate planning, wealth transfer and tax strategy.
Tiano also previously worked at Focus Financial Partners and Glenmede Trust Company. Smith has 15 years of advisory experience and previously worked at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Bessemer Trust and Fiduciary Trust Company International.
Susie Cranston, CEO of Cresset, stated, “Nick and Chris exemplify the high caliber of advisor we seek to attract to Cresset—deeply experienced professionals who put clients at the center of everything they do. Their expertise serving entrepreneurs, business owners, and multigenerational families aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver truly comprehensive, integrated wealth management.”
Strategic Partnerships
Moneta Opens U.K. Office Through Thomson Tyndall Partnership
Moneta Group Investment Advisors, a St. Louis-based RIA with more than $50 billion in AUM as of Dec. 31, opened a United Kingdom office through a strategic partnership with London-based Thomson Tyndall. The partnership is intended to serve U.S. expatriates, U.S.-connected overseas clients and international family offices that need coordinated advice involving investments, taxes, estates, currencies, cross-border planning and family office support.
Moneta Global Wealth is an appointed representative of Thomson Tyndall, which was founded in London in 2016 and traces its roots to the 1960s. Moneta said the arrangement combines its U.S. fiduciary capabilities with Thomson Tyndall’s U.K. planning and investment services for clients who live, work, retire or invest across borders.
Eric Kittner, CEO of Moneta, stated, “Moneta’s mission has always been to help clients navigate life’s path, no matter where that path leads. As our clients’ lives and financial interests become more global, expanding our international capabilities was a natural evolution. This partnership allows us to deliver the same service-first, client-first experience without borders.”
Civic Financial Selects Altruist For Custody And Wealthtech
Civic Financial selected Altruist as its exclusive custodian and wealth management technology platform, moving its full custodial and technology stack to the company. Boston-based Civic is a partner-owned financial planning and wealth advisory firm that accumulated approximately $1 billion in client assets before becoming independent. The arrangement consolidates custody, account opening, trading, portfolio management, billing and reporting on Altruist’s platform.
Civic also plans to use Altruist’s Hazel AI engine for tax planning, workflow automation and customized advisory workflows. The firm will act as a design partner for new Hazel capabilities, giving it a role in product development. Altruist combines a self-clearing brokerage operation with software for account opening, trading, portfolio management, billing and reporting, along with fractional-share trading, alternatives and automated rebalancing.
Scott DeSantis, CEO of Civic Financial, stated, “We conducted extensive diligence across every major custodian and platform. That process validated our commitment to 100% independence, and Altruist emerged the clear winner due to its best-in-class technology, our alignment with the leadership team and culture, and client-centric approach.”
Strategic Initiatives
Carson Launches Equity Program For Advisors And Employees
Carson Group launched an equity program for selected W-2 advisors and team members in its integrated offices. The RIA said the initiative expands ownership opportunities beyond founding advisors who received equity through acquisition structures. The program is intended to support recruiting, retention and succession as rising advisory firm valuations make ownership harder to attain for second- and third-generation professionals.
Eligible participants include advisors in the final year of acquisition-related growth incentives, next-generation advisors and exceptional employees in operational or support roles whose leadership, expertise and execution are essential to the success of Carson’s integrated offices.
Burt White, CEO of Carson Group, stated, “Our business is built by exceptional people, and this new equity program reflects our belief that the advisors and team members creating long-term value for Carson should have the opportunity to share in that success. By investing in leading advisors and their team members, we’re creating a path for them to build personal wealth within Carson while strengthening the long-term future of our integrated businesses, our clients and our firm.”
Promotions & People Moves
Advisor360° Appoints Ananya Balaram As Chief Revenue Officer
Advisor360° appointed Ananya Balaram as Chief Revenue Officer, placing him in charge of revenue strategy, sales, customer success and support. Balaram joined the wealthtech company after serving as Chief Revenue Officer at Vestmark, where he led firmwide revenue and growth. Advisor360° said the appointment supports its expansion among wealth management firms adopting integrated technology and AI across advisor and client workflows.
Balaram has more than 15 years of experience in fintech and financial services, including commercializing business lines and building operating models. Advisor360° said its platform supports $1 trillion in assets and more than 10,000 advisors. The company combines a wealth operating system with its Unified Data Fabric, using connected data to support AI-enabled advisor tools and enterprise workflows.
Milind Mehere, CEO of Advisor360°, stated, “AI has reset how advisors use, buy and evaluate technology. This is creating a massive opportunity for Advisor360°, and Ananya is exactly the kind of leader we need to help us capitalize on it. He brings a rare combination of strategic vision, sales rigor and deep industry expertise.”
Fidelis Capital Names Herb Achey As Partner
Fidelis Capital appointed Herb Achey as Partner, adding him to its Investment Committee. Achey has more than 45 years of experience serving ultra-high net worth families, family offices and institutions. The advisor-owned RIA manages nearly $3 billion in assets and said Achey will help develop customized portfolios tied to clients’ broader planning needs.
Achey spent 30 years at U.S. Trust and Bank of America Private Bank, most recently as an Investment Strategist supervising more than $2 billion in client assets. He previously worked at Wells Fargo, Bethlehem Steel Pension Trust and PNC Bank. At Fidelis, he rejoins former colleagues Neale Ellis and Chris Gunster.
Achey said, “Fidelis is really on the cutting edge of what modern wealth management for generationally wealthy families and institutions should look like—there’s continuous improvement and truly the highest level of acumen around wealth planning I’ve seen. Every day there’s a new learning, a new add-on, a new collaboration. Nothing is cookie cutter or one-size-fits-all.”
Research
Cerulli Says RIAs Need More Deliberate Growth Strategies
Cerulli said RIAs need more deliberate marketing and business development programs to offset asset attrition and improve organic growth. Regular income withdrawals and one-time distributions represented 56% of RIA outflows in 2025, while annual asset attrition typically ranges from 2% to 5% of AUM, excluding client departures. More than half of RIA clients are at least 50 years old, increasing exposure to decumulation-related outflows.
Referrals generated 74% of new RIA clients, but only 51% of firms proactively ask clients for referrals and 22% plan to add referral efforts to their organic growth strategies. RIAs allocate an average of 5% of expenses to marketing, and only 14% use a dedicated marketing resource. Cerulli said firms may use outside consultants, fractional chief marketing officers, automation and customized content when internal staffing and capital are limited.
Stephen Caruso, Director at Cerulli, stated, “As we consider RIAs’ increasingly critical growth goals, organic growth has become a key success metric. Across the market today, one of the key trends was that RIAs who recognize that organic growth needs a dedicated strategy and resources are far more likely to succeed than firms that take an intermittent or occasional approach.”
AdvizorPro Maps 315 RIA Acquisitions
AdvizorPro’s 2026 RIA Aggregator Map examined 315 acquisitions recorded during the 12 months ended July 15 and found activity concentrated in a limited number of states. California led with 44 acquisitions and $67 billion in acquired assets, while the 10 most active states accounted for 52% of deal volume. The report mapped transactions based on the acquired firm’s filed location.
Farther completed 12 deals and was identified as the most active acquirer by count, with transactions spread across six states. Mercer Global Advisors and Waverly Advisors each completed 11 deals. Deal count and acquired assets produced different leaderboards: 1832 Asset Management acquired $38.2 billion in one transaction, while LPL Financial led the listed multi-deal buyers with $25.8 billion in acquired assets.
The analysis used AdvizorPro’s M&A Activity dashboard, which is built from SEC Form ADV-W successor filings. Twenty-nine transactions had unresolved locations and were excluded from the state map but included in acquirer totals where applicable. The report cautioned that successor filings generally reflect acquisitions, although a small number may represent internal restructurings rather than external transactions when interpreting the totals.
Berkshire Global Reports First-Half M&A Increase
Berkshire Global Advisors counted 225 U.S. wealth management transactions involving RIAs with at least $100 million in AUM during the first half of 2026, up nearly 40% from 162 deals a year earlier. It said activity is on pace for another annual record as large acquisitions, smaller tuck-ins and mid-sized transactions all contributed to deal volume.
The firm recorded 26 transactions involving RIAs with more than $5 billion in assets, compared with 15 during the first half of 2025. Berkshire attributed the increase to continued consolidation among established firms and a recapitalization cycle for platforms that raised outside capital in 2020 and 2021.
Berkshire also examined consolidation in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the U.K., larger platforms require deeper pools of capital, while buyers are scrutinizing regulatory histories, operating systems, management teams and scalability. Australia continues to attract private capital in part because of its retirement asset base and advisor shortage, but the market has relatively few firms with the size and infrastructure required to support broad acquisition programs.
Wealth Solutions Report can be reached at info@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
