Mercer Global Advisors is acquiring MDK Private Wealth Management, a Seattle-based firm that manages $2.5 billion in assets.
MDK was founded in 2020 and works primarily with extremely high net worth clients, with services ranging from financial planning, trust, estate and tax planning, and even private aviation and shipping advisory services.
Co-founders Paul Meyer, Jaimi Dennehy and Chris Kalafatis lead the firm. The acquisition stemmed from their desire to build the firm's scale to create a platform “for institutional and continuing care,” according to Kalafatis.
“Knowing this, we were faced with the decision of whether to build this platform or determine if one existed that was consistent with our vision of what a national family office offering could be,” Dennehy said in a statement.
Dennehy said Mercer, which manages more than $56 billion in client assets, lured MDK with its expertise in various services, including tax consulting and return preparation and ERISA plan services support. MDK's principles were also sold by Mercer Advisors Vice Chairman Dave Barton's assessment that Mercer offers a “Mayo Clinic approach” to financial services, Meyer said.
Mercer CEO Dave Welling said “tailored services” for UHNW clients remained one of the firm's fastest-growing business areas, and MDK would tap into that burgeoning field. The MDK addition also increases Mercer's presence in the Pacific Northwest, as well as its presence in Seattle, Welling said.
Last month, Mercer announced it would be hiring Gün Keresteci as financial director from McKinsey & Co., where he was global head of finance. He succeeded Michael Henry, now the firm's vice president of M&A finance. Mercer also recently hired five new executives for his M&A partner development and integration teams from LPL Financial, Charles Schwab and NewEdge Advisors, among others.
Earlier this year, Mercer bought River Glen Wealth Counselors, a three-person team based in Iowa that manages $265 million in assets for 160 clients. It also acquired Transitions Wealth Management, an RIA with more than 400 clients and about $465 million in assets; the firm became Mercer's fourth Colorado office in addition to its Denver headquarters.
Mercer added more than 260 advisors in 2023, excluding advisors that joined through acquisitions. It has also remained one of the industry's wildest buyers, with 12 M&A deals in 2023 and 20 in 2022, totaling around $13 billion.
Mercer has 80 offices in 31 states, employing approximately 1,060 (including 780 consultants). It is majority owned by Genstar, Oak Hill Capital and Atlas Partners and has grown its assets by more than 300% since 2017.