MAI Capital Management announced Monday that it acquired Waypoint Wealth Counsel, a Georgia-based, fee-only RIA that manages about $490 million in assets under management (AUM) for over 100 households and allows Cleveland-based MAI to expand into the Atlanta market.
The acquisition comes as MAI continues to broaden its presence in “strategic U.S. markets,” it said.
Waypoint, which joined MAI on Friday, when the transaction closed, was founded in 2014 by Partners Brad McGrew and Matthew Woods, MAI said.
McGrew and Woods will continue to lead the Atlanta team at MAI, serving in their new roles as Market Leaders, according to MAI.
Waypoint provides financial planning, investment management and financial advisory services to affluent and ultra-high net worth individual investors and families, with a concentration on business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and multigenerational families, MAI said.
Prior to founding Waypoint, McGrew and Woods had several years of experience at brokerage firms, banks and RIAs, MAI noted.
Woods served as a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney from 2007 until he co-founded Waypoint, according to his LinkedIn profile.
McGrew served as a Partner at wealth management firm Goepper Burkhardt + McGrew from August 2010 until he co-founded Waypoint, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, McGrew was an advisor at Brightworth, SunTrust Bank and Homrich & Berg.
“Brad, Matthew and their team have built an exceptional firm by combining institutional-caliber services with deeply personalized relationships,” Rick Buoncore, CEO and Chairman of MAI, said in the news release.
“That client-first culture aligns naturally with MAI,” according to Buoncore. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to enter a market we have long viewed as strategically important, but finding the right people mattered more than simply expanding our footprint.”
Buoncore added, “With Waypoint, we found both an outstanding team and an opportunity-filled market.”
“We are always looking for ways to do more for our clients, and after evaluating our options, MAI’s platform stood out as the best way available to us to add to our resources with the backing of one of the industry’s most respected firms,” McGrew said in the news release.
“MAI gives us access to comprehensive planning and investment capabilities while allowing us to deliver the individualized advice and portfolio strategies our clients expect.”
McGrew added, “Together, this operational support will help our team unlock greater capacity to focus on serving clients.”
“Atlanta is home to a growing concentration of entrepreneurs, executives and generational wealth, making sophisticated, full-service wealth management increasingly essential for the families and business owners we support,” Woods said in the release. “Joining MAI allows us to combine the local relationships and market knowledge we have built over more than a decade with the resources of a national firm.”
Woods added, “Through MAI’s platform, including its Evoke ultra-high-net worth team, we’re looking forward to the added depth and investment expertise, particularly as it relates to delivering on the needs of the clients we are fortunate to serve.”
Colchester Partners served as financial advisor and Arnall Golden Gregory served as legal advisor to Waypoint.
“Prior to Waypoint Wealth Counsel, MAI acquired three other companies” so far in 2026: LOC Investment Advisers, Service Academy Management and Saybrook Wealth Group, and “will be announcing another deal tomorrow,” an MAI spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report on Monday.
“MAI completed seven acquisitions in 2025 and continues to pursue strategic opportunities with firms that share its commitment to client-first service and comprehensive wealth management.”
The spokesperson added, “The firm evaluates each potential partner on cultural fit and strategic alignment, with a focus on markets where MAI can deepen its national footprint and expand capabilities for existing and future clients.”
MAI announced in April that it signed an agreement for funds managed by investment firm Carlyle to acquire a majority stake in it at a valuation of over $2.8 billion.
MAI now has a team of more than 700 people at 42 offices and, as of June 30, almost $80.4 billion in total assets, including $73.8 billion in AUM and $6.6 billion in assets under advisement, it said.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
