Prospera Financial Services picked up four advisers and $650 million in assets in California's San Bernardino Valley, and Berger Financial Group hit $2 billion and established a presence in Illinois with its 18th acquisition. In Annapolis, a $625 million firm spun off a four-person team to create Curio Wealth.
Steward Partners also announced it was shortening its name in the final phase of a brand refresh that began last year, and the private wealth arm of BOK Financial appointed a managing director of Family Office Services.
In previously reported news:
A former advisor to Morgan Stanley launched a new RIA in collaboration with tru Independence, a team of four left Northwestern Mutual to create an independent RIA leveraging Fidelity Institutional's technology platform, and LPL said that will acquire Atria Wealth Solutions' family of wealth management businesses. Important deals were also announced by Pathstone AND Perigoni.
Mercer Advisors AND Korean reported key hires in support of M&A, growth and practice management initiatives.
Painter, Smith & Amberg joins Prospera for $650 million
Dallas-based Prospera Financial Services, a broker/dealer and RIA platform that supports 175 independent advisors with approximately $18 billion in assets, pulled a team of four advisors to Redlands, California.
Founded in 1982, Painter, Smith & Amberg is a dually registered firm that has operated independently for four decades and advises approximately $650 million in assets. The team of Charles Painter, David Smith, Jeffrey Amberg and Kallie Rawson chose to partner with Prospera to take advantage of “the scale and technology of a larger firm's support structure, relieving them of the day-to-day operations of running a broker/ dealers and allowing them to improve the services they can offer their customers and drive additional growth,” according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Earlier this year, Prospera announced that it was consolidating the very high net worth expertise for offer a complete package of services for family offices for its wealthiest clients.
Berger Financial Group acquires Robert Gordon & Associates
Minneapolis-based RIA Berger Financial Group reached $2 billion in assets under management with the acquisition of Springfield, Ill.-based Robert Gordon & Associates.
Led by President Bob Gordon, the six-person team includes three other advisors and two support staff who provide wealth and retirement planning, asset management, business consulting and financial education to companies and associations. At the time of its most recent ADV filing 11 months ago, the firm was managing almost $266 million for 728 individual households.
The entire team has benefited from Berger's employee stock option plan as part of the deal, according to a release.
“We considered many different business models and deal structures in our research. Ensuring that our customers and staff are well taken care of was our primary consideration,” Gordon said in a statement. “While this partnership is still young, all of our expectations have been met.”
Following the completion of the first acquisition in 2010, the deal is the 18th and largest in Berger's 43-year history. Representing the firm's ninth location and fifth state in which Berger has established a presence, RG&A is continuing to operate under its established brand.
In addition to portfolio management and financial planning, retirement and wealth generation, Berger offers tax planning and preparation, advisor succession planning, socially responsible investing and women-focused services.
The firm reported it had 60 employees, about half of whom are advisers, serving 2,659 households and about a dozen institutional clients at the time of its most recent ADV filing in mid-November.
Bay Point Wealth Spins Off New RIA, Curio Wealth Advisors
Curio Wealth has launched as a new RIA in Annapolis, Md. after splitting Bay Point Wealth, an RIA that manages roughly $625 million for 450 families and several retirement plans through October.
Four members of the Bay Point team have transferred to the new firm, which is led by founder and principal Jim Kantowski. Lyn Dippel, Jacob Sadler and Elizabeth Gillette are also principal owners. After filing with the SEC in early November, Curio has yet to report any clients or assets.
According to a release, “significant growth” prompted the split, which is intended to allow each firm to focus on specific client needs and offer more personalized services. According to federal filings, Curio and Bay Point “generally provide investment advice to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates or charities, corporations or business entities” and offer identical billing structures.
“We use curiosity to learn our customers' true intentions and provide personalized guidance and support,” Kantowski said in a statement. “At Curio, it's our job to help clients manage life's ever-present uncertainty. We're passionate about redefining what it means to meet with a financial advisor.”
Curio's stated goal is to “integrate financial planning, investment and tax planning and preparation,” according to the firm. This includes “exploring innovative strategies and investment options that address the challenges and opportunities of today's ever-changing financial landscape.”
Steward Partners Caps Refresh brand name abbreviated
After a decade in business, Steward Partners Global Advisory will now be known simply as Steward Partners.
The move is the culmination of a brand identity program launched last year to reflect the firm's rapid growth from three advisors and $50 million in assets at the end of 2013 to more than 200 advisors overseeing $32 billion today. In 2023 alone, Steward raised more than $6 billion through recruitment, primarily of off-network advisors and banks.
“We've enjoyed tremendous growth over our first decade in terms of our number of partners, assets under management, and tools and services available,” Steward co-founder and CEO Jim Gold said in a statement. “Our updated brand identity and logo are designed to build on our history and culture while reflecting our vision for the future.”
Steward Partners updated its logo and website late last year and introduced a new shopping model with its acquisition of the $3 billion AUM Freedom Street Partners.
Majority-owned by advisors, Steward is minority-backed by Cynosure and the Pritzker Organization. In late 2022, the firm received a $140 million credit facility led by alternative investment firm Apogem Capital to support recruitment and, going forward, acquisitions.
BOK Financial appoints new Managing Director of Family Office Services
Megan Hughes has become the new managing director of Family Office Services in the Private Wealth group at BOK Financial, a Tulsa, Okla.-based financial services holding company with banking divisions in eight states and $105 billion in assets under management and administration .
Prior to entering her new role on Feb. 1, Hughes was a personal trust manager for the BOK Bank of Texas branch in Dallas, where she is based. Prior to joining Bank of Texas in early 2017, she was with Tolleson Wealth Management.
“We are in the process of significantly increasing the level of services available to our Family Office clients, all of whom will benefit from Megan's passion, professionalism and experience,” BOK's CFO of Private Wealth said in a statement Greg Wheeler.