In this edition of the Deals & Recruiting Roundup, we review the top news for each month of 2024: CWC’s investment in Perigon and Lido, LPL’s purchase of Atria Wealth Solutions, Mercer’s acquisition of MDK, Arax’s acquisition of USCWA, Sanctuary Wealth’s acquisition of tru Independence, Fisher Investments’ minority stake sale, KKR’s purchase of Janney Montgomery Scott, CW Advisors’ purchase of Agili, IEQ’s purchase of EPIQ, Pathstone’s purchase of Hall Capital, CAPTRUST’s acquisition of Boston Financial and Raymond James’ recruitment of a dozen advisors.
Larry’s Take
2024 gave us a plethora of groundbreaking, consequential news across strategic partnerships, executive hires and advisor recruiting, but the largest theme of the year has been the continued reshaping of our industry by M&A.
RIA consolidators continued as a strong source of M&A activity in 2024. Cerulli recently estimated that total AUM among consolidators is now $1.5 trillion. However, most consolidators don’t act alone – they act with private equity backing – such as the transactions by Arax Investment Partners, backed by RedBird, and CW Advisors, backed by Audax.
Private equity firms have also continued as a major source of direct investment in acquisitions and minority stakes, such as KKR buying Janney and Constellation Wealth Capital taking minority stakes in Lido and Perigon.
There is still plenty of dry powder looking for a good deal in the wealth management space, so M&A will continue its strength in 2025. Look for more creativity in both minority investments and acquisitions as private equity and other sources of capital (such as sovereign wealth funds) court sellers in the new year.
If you would like to discuss this Larry’s Take further, including how these trends might impact your business, please contact me at larry.roth@rlrstrategicpartners.com.
January: CWC Took Minority Stakes In $6.5 Billion Perigon And $19.1 Billion Lido
Chicago-based private equity firm Constellation Wealth Capital (CWC) made investments in San Francisco-based Perigon Wealth Management, which had over $6.5 billion in client assets at the time, and in Los Angeles-based Lido Advisors, which had $19.1 billion in assets at the time.
Merchant Investment Management, which entered a partnership with Perigon in 2019, exited the relationship. Perigon more than doubled its assets under management (AUM) in the first year of that partnership, and ultimately increased client assets by nearly tenfold. CWC took its stake in Lido alongside Lido’s lead investor, Charlesbank Capital Partners.
“Perigon’s consistent growth is a testament to its effective strategy in the competitive wealth management space,” said Karl Heckenberg, Founder and Managing Partner at CWC. “I’ve been observing Lido for a long time and have been impressed by their operating model, value proposition and leadership team, all of which have enabled the firm to achieve rapid organic and inorganic growth.”
February: LPL Bought $100 Billion Atria Wealth Solutions In Mega Deal
LPL Financial signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire New York-based Atria Wealth Solutions in February. As part of the deal, Atria was to transition its brokerage and advisory assets custodied with its network of broker-dealers to the LPL platform. The deal closed in October.
Atria supported about 2,400 advisors and 150 banks and credit unions that, combined, managed approximately $100 billion of brokerage and advisory assets at the time. LPL served over 22,000 financial advisors, including advisors at about 1,100 enterprises and at approximately 570 registered investment advisor firms at the time, with total advisory and brokerage assets of $1.35 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2023. As of November 2024, LPL served 28,000 financial professionals and $1.8 trillion in broker and advisory assets serviced or custodied.
“Atria was founded on the vision to help deepen and enrich the relationship between financial advisors and their clients while helping them build strong and growing practices and programs,” said Doug Ketterer, CEO and Founding Partner of Atria Wealth Solutions. “LPL shares our fundamental belief of putting advisors at the center of everything we do.”
March: Mercer Acquired $2.5 Billion MDK Private Wealth Management In Seattle
Denver-based Mercer Global Advisors acquired Seattle-based MDK Private Wealth Management, which had over $2.5 billion in assets under supervision at the time. MDK was founded in 2020 by Paul Meyer, Jaimi Dennehy and Chris Kalafatis.
MDK serves ultra-high net worth clients through family office services including financial planning, investment management, trust and estate planning, private banking and lending, tax planning, private aviation and boat advisory, and executive planning. Mercer had 1,060 employees, more than 80 locations nationwide and managed over $56 billion in client assets at the time. Mercer currently has $64 billion in client assets and over 90 offices.
“MDK is a respected multi-family office led by highly qualified professionals with deep expertise serving the ultra-high net worth space,” said Dave Welling, CEO of Mercer. “One of the fastest growing areas of our business is our tailored services for ultra-high net worth clients and we are excited to add the MDK team to further bolster our expertise and capabilities in that area.”
April: RedBird-Backed Arax Acquired $9 Billion USCWA In Houston
New York-based Arax Investment Partners, a wealth management platform backed by RedBird Capital Partners, acquired Houston-based U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors (USCWA), a hybrid wealth management firm with approximately $9 billion in assets across 62 advisors serving more than 5,500 clients at the time.
USCWA brought with it a presence in the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas and Georgetown, as well as in Andover, Massachusetts, and New York. It provides financial planning, investments and insurance to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.
“USCWA was founded on the same principles as Arax, enabling financial advisors to provide expert, holistic solutions to clients that combine the personal touch of a regional firm with capabilities available to larger, national institutions,” said Haig Ariyan, CEO of Arax. “Bringing in this multi-custodial advisory platform along with the capabilities of U.S. Capital’s broker-dealer will create further opportunities for advisors and their clients across the Arax platform.”
May: Sanctuary Wealth Acquired $12.5 Billion tru Independence
Sanctuary Wealth acquired Portland, Oregon-based tru Independence (tru). Indianapolis-based Sanctuary supports former wirehouse advisors who are not interested in managing the regulatory responsibilities of an RIA. tru, with 30 RIA firms managing $12.5 billion in client assets at the time, supports advisors who wish to own their RIAs.
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the combined firm supports $48 billion in assets, over 495 licensed professionals and 120 partner firms across 30 states. Sanctuary and tru each retained its own brand and leadership team while working together to leverage each other’s capabilities to serve their respective advisor bases.
“Sanctuary and tru have built their businesses on partnered independence, where being independent does not mean going it alone,” said Adam Malamed, CEO of Sanctuary Wealth. “tru is a pioneer in independent wealth management and an innovator in supporting elite advisors who wish to own their own RIAs. With a well-earned reputation for authenticity and transparency, tru’s core values align with Sanctuary’s.”
June: Fisher Investments Sold Minority Stake, Valuing Firm At $12.75 Billion
Fisher Investments (FI) agreed to sell a minority stake to Advent International and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The investment of $2.5 billion to $3 billion valued FI at $12.75 billion. Ken Fisher remained FI’s Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer, and Damian Ornani remained as CEO.
Ken Fisher was to retain a majority of beneficial ownership and voting shares exceeding 70%. He founded FI in 1979. Today the independent, fee-only RIA has $299 billion in AUM. Advent International is a global private equity firm with $88.8 billion in AUM of June 30. ADIA is a sovereign wealth fund.
“This transaction is aimed dually at estate tax and planning purposes while assuring that FI will maintain its traditional culture, growth evolution and devotion to exceptional client service,” Fisher said. “FI has been my life. While my health is excellent, this transaction with an atypically long holding period for a private equity transaction will ensure FI’s long-term private independence and culture should anything untoward happen to me. And, we will have the support of world class partners who understand us operationally and culturally, and value what we are and will be.”
July: KKR Agreed To Buy $150 Billion Janney From Penn Mutual
Global investment firm KKR agreed to acquire Janney Montgomery Scott from The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. Janney had over $150 billion in assets under administration across more than 900 financial advisors and 135 offices nationwide at the time. Janney will become a standalone private company and continue to operate independently.
KKR’s investment in Janney is occurring mainly through its North America Fund XIII. Post transaction, KKR plans to support Janney in creating an equity ownership program that gives the company’s over 2,300 employees the opportunity to receive ownership stakes. Since 2011, more than 50 KKR portfolio companies have provided billions of dollars of total equity value to over 100,000 non-senior management employees.
“We are excited to enter this next chapter in our nearly 200-year history with a new value-added strategic partner. KKR has demonstrated they value our client- and advisor-centric culture and share our deep conviction in the tremendous opportunities ahead for our business,” said Tony Miller, President of Janney. “We look forward to working with KKR to invest further in our growth and enable our talented team to further improve the advice and services we offer our clients.”
August: Audax-Backed CW Advisors Acquired $1.2 Billion Agili
Boston-based CW Advisors acquired Agili, a fee-only firm with $1.2 billion of AUM at the time that provides financial planning, investment strategy and strategic services. Agili, which adopted the CW Advisors name and brand, had offices in Richmond, Virginia, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1993, Agili served high net worth individuals and families nationwide through a “Personal CFO” offering. Michael Joyce, President of Agili, became Executive Managing Director, Mid-Atlantic Leader for CW Advisors. CW Advisors has 11 offices across the country, 113 employees and $9.7 billion in AUM. This was the firm’s fourth and largest deal since receiving an investment from Audax Private Equity in June 2023.
“We are excited for this partnership and to welcome Agili’s clients and team members to CW Advisors,” said Paul Lonergan, CEO of CW Advisors. “As one of the nation’s earliest fee-only financial planning firms, Agili is a pioneer in this sector. The team’s responsive and innovative service to clients makes them an ideal fit. Agili brings impressive infrastructure and resources that can benefit CW Advisors’ larger organization and our clients.”
September: UHNW-Focused RIA IEQ Capital Bought $5.3 Billion Firm EPIQ
IEQ Capital announced the acquisition of fellow San Francisco Bay Area-based RIA EPIQ Capital Group, a multi-family office and investment firm founded in 2018, which had $5.3 billion in AUM as of July 31. Founded in 2019, IEQ had $26.5 billion in AUM as of June 30.
The combined firm has $33.8 billion in AUM with an expanded footprint in the San Francisco Bay Area; Los Angeles; Newport Beach, California; Dallas; Denver; St. Louis; Nashville, Tennessee; Boston; Atlanta; and Miami.
“EPIQ has built relationships and capabilities in core markets that we believe are additive to our platform and will further our ability to provide access to differentiated investment opportunities,” said Eric Harrison, Co-CEO of IEQ. “They are our neighbor in the San Francisco Bay Area, and they have a reputation in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco markets for delivering comprehensive and personalized family office services to their clients nationwide.”
October: Pathstone Bought $45 Billion RIA Hall Capital
Partner-owned Pathstone, which provides family office services, agreed to acquire Hall Capital Partners, an RIA managing about $45 billion in client assets at the time. The acquisition closed on Dec. 2. The pro forma assets under advisement and administration for the combined firm as of June 30 were over $150 billion. The combined firm also has 23 offices and over 700 professionals.
Pathstone’s backers – Kelso & Company, Lovell Minnick Partners and management – invested additional capital to support the acquisition, Pathstone said. Hall Capital had offices in San Francisco and New York. Pathstone had offices in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia metro area and several states.
“We have been a long-time admirer of Hall as one of the most respected, long-standing firms in our industry and we believe that combining the best of our respective organizations creates a truly unique value proposition,” Pathstone CEO Matt Fleissig said. “We could not be more excited as we believe our combination represents a seminal moment for our firm, redefining the concept of scale in our industry and accessing a tremendous new group of team members and two sought-after locations – San Francisco and New York.”
November: CAPTRUST Acquired $5 Billion Boston Financial Management
Raleigh, North Carolina-based CAPTRUST Financial Advisors acquired Boston Financial Management (BFM), which had nearly $5 billion in client assets and a team of 45 professionals at the time. Through the transaction, CAPTRUST gained another office in Boston, and two new offices in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. Chairman Richard H. Morse, who founded BFM in 1976, retired.
The firm provides wealth management, investment advisory, trust and estate planning services for individuals, families, endowments and nonprofits. Berkshire Global Advisors was BFM’s financial advisor in the deal. CAPTRUST had over $852 billion in AUM as of its Dec. 11 SEC ADV filing. It has more than 1,600 employees and serves over 35,000 institutional and private clients across more than 90 locations.
“To me, culture means what you value and how you treat people. From the first meeting it was clear that CAPTRUST feels the same and treats their clients and colleagues like we do—genuinely caring about them and working creatively to achieve the best outcomes,” said Louis Crosier, President and CEO of BFM. “I believe that clients will quickly see the value that comes from being part of a larger firm and enjoy the new resources they will have access to.”
December: Raymond James Recruited $5 Billion Duo, Additional 10 Advisors With $2 Billion
Raymond James recruited advisors Scott Burnett and Peter Kelson to Raymond James Advisor Select within Raymond James & Associates (RJA), the firm’s employee advisor channel. The Cottonwood Heights, Utah-based team joined RJA’s Salt Lake City branch from Zions Direct, where they managed over $5 billion in client assets.
The duo serves public entities, corporations, foundations and endowments. In December, Raymond James also recruited 10 advisors representing an additional $2.3 billion in client assets. The firm serves approximately 8,800 financial advisors and had total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion as of Nov. 30.
“Raymond James provides us with the technology and support that is vital to our success,” Burnett said. “The technology platform and comprehensive back-end support allow us to fully dedicate ourselves to providing resonant service,” Kelson said.
Julius Buchanan, Editor in Chief at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jbuchanan@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
