One trend that we’re seeing in this month’s financial advisory M&A in the AdvizorPro database is that serial acquirers continue to roll up regionally focused RIAs. Notably, Bluespring Wealth Management acquired both Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory in Cincinnati and Joule Financial in Kentucky. This reinforces Bluespring’s multi-firm regional strategy that has been branded “Three Firms. One Vision.” It also added more than $1.4 billion in assets under management (AUM) to Bluespring’s books.
Mariner also continued its thematic acquisitions with Atlantic Wealth Partners in North Palm Beach, Florida, which primarily serves first responders, showing that in this case Mariner was focused on niche growth rather than generic high net worth expansion.
Larger platforms including The Mather Group, Savant Wealth Management, Modera Wealth Management, Choreo and CX Institutional were also actively acquiring smaller, local RIAs.
From a geographic perspective, the locales featured in July’s M&A activity included major metropolitan and financial hubs including New York, Atlanta, Denver, the Chicago area and Florida. There was also a focus on secondary markets with strong local wealth bases such as Cincinnati; Lexington, Kentucky; Greenville, South Carolina; Salina, Kansas; Delafield, Wisconsin; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Westerly, Rhode Island.
In several of these M&A announcements, the narrative focused on the acquirer expanding its presence in a state or locality, which reinforces the pattern of geographic diversification versus increasing in national scale.
BNP Paribas Asset Management USA’s acquisition by AXA Investment Managers US was the largest acquisition of the month at $48.4 billion in AUM. This deal may reflect a strategic realignment between global asset managers rather than the standard RIA roll-up.
D’Annunzio Consulting Group’s $1.9 billion in AUM with only two recorded representatives suggests a play by Aerie Advisory Group for a high-value book which could meaningfully scale its practice.
Wellspring Financial Partners’ acquisition by Parkwoods Wealth Partners adds more than $1.2 billion to its books and expands Parkwoods’ presence in Tucson, Arizona.
The merging of Matter Family Office and IWP Family Office suggests a move upmarket and into more complex planning needs.
July’s 18 transactions were significantly less June’s 28 deals, although a summer slowdown isn’t entirely atypical. And this July was more robust than the 16 transactions of last July.
Hesom Parhizkar is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of AdvizorPro.
