Deals may indeed be popping up elsewhere as private equity returns to post-Covid markets eager to put to work the mountains of closed-end dust, but it never really faded into the registered investment advisory space. .
Still, after what some industry experts are calling the most active quarter in nearly a decade, this week may have beaten any other. No fewer than 14 deals and several new launches were announced, as well as a raft of talent acquisitions. In total, more than $22 billion in client assets were in motion.
“The first quarter of 2024 closed as the most active in property M&A history, which was then followed by this week's record activity,” according to MarshBerry VP of Financial Advisory Rob Madore. “More than 10 transactions were announced, and five that were greater than $1 billion in assets under management.”
“This week was huge,” noted DeVoe & Company CEO David DeVoe, who said his firm has logged as many as 13 deals in a single week since they began tracking in 2015.
In addition to previously reported news, OneSeven scored a former Edelman advisor, Sequoia Financial Group and OneDigital both acquired indie firms in Houston, Ashton Thomas created a third location in Colorado with a duo from WealthSource, Bison Wealth snapped up a pair from Key Private Bank and Evermay Wealth Management picked up another Virginia firm in its fifth acquisition.
In previously reported news about the deal:
In previously reported talent news:
OneSeven Launches LA Advisor from Edelman Financial Engines
OneSeven, an Ohio RIA serving 246 retirement plans and 28 independent advisory practices with more than $4.3 billion in collective assets, raised $190 million from Edelman Financial Engines.
Jame Selu, who joined OneSeven after nine years with Edelman, will be the platform's 48th advisor. He currently operates as the CEO, president and sole financial advisor of Palm Coast Wealth Management in northern Los Angeles County. Selu will continue to use Charles Schwab as its custodian and expects to utilize the additional resources and support provided through OneSeven.
Backed by Commercial Investment Management, OneSeven was created in 2022 from the merger of MGO Investment Advisors and One Seven.
Sequoia Financial Group acquires AltruVista
Sequoia Financial Group, an Akron, Ohio-based RIA that oversees approximately $18 billion in client assets, selected a Houston firm managing more than $300 million.
AltruVista was founded in 2009 by CEO Ali Nasser, who is joining Sequoia as a shareholder. According to the AltruVista website, he leads a team of seven that includes an additional advisor, CFP Jared Waldrup.
According to federal filings dated March 29, the team provides investment consulting and a range of financial planning services, as well as implementation and management of investment portfolios and access to third-party asset managers. A “Wealth Integration System for Entrepreneurs” created by Nasser will now be available to Sequoia advisors.
The new Houston location brings Sequoia to 14 offices in eight states. It's the second in Texas after the 2023 acquisition of a Nashville-based firm also added a location in San Antonio.
Founded in 1991, Sequoia completed several smaller acquisitions before selling a minority stake to Kudu Investment Management in 2020 and following up with two deals that added about $4 billion in assets the following year. In late 2022, the firm secured a second minority investment from Valeas Capital and followed it up with four acquisitions in 2023 that added more than $6.7 billion.
OneDigital pulls Houston firm
Atlanta-based OneDigital Investment Advisors, the RIA arm of insurance, talent and financial advisory firm OneDigital, added Legacy Asset Management in Houston, Texas.
Founded in 1998 by CEO and President Joe Birkofer, Legacy is an eight-person RIA serving more than a dozen retirement plans, 180 families and a handful of charities with nearly $162 million under management.
“Giving us a strong foothold in the wealth management and retirement services industry in Texas, a partnership with Legacy demonstrates our commitment to adding value to our south-central clients by providing a complete set of offerings for to best serve their needs,” OneDigital Senior VP. of Retirement + Wealth Kelley Snook said in a statement.
With more than $107 billion under management, approximately one-third of which is discretionary, One Digital Investment Advisors includes approximately 40 partner firms that collectively serve 36,650 households, 5,647 retirement plans and more than 460 other entities. The addition of Legacy brings the firm to more than 2,500 clients in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Ashton Thomas opens third office in Colorado with former WealthSource Duo
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, a $5.5 billion AUM hybrid RIA acquired by Arax Investment Partners last year, opened an office in Grand Junction, Colo., after recruiting a local duo managing $300 million .
Making the move from WealthSource, that was recently acquired by OneDigital, Angela Johnson and Doug May are operating as the Confluence Team under Ashton Thomas. Johnson spent 14 years with Wells Fargo before joining WealthSource two years ago, and May had his own RIA before joining WealthSource ten years ago.
The Confluence team also includes Associate Wealth Advisor Nic Hansen, Associate Wealth Analyst Jared Hardin, Senior Associate of Private Wealth Client Services Denise Cook and Associate of Private Wealth Client Services Lisa Mauser.
Confluence is the second Colorado team to relocate to Ashton Thomas, creating the firm's third office in the state, along with locations in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Bison Wealth is recruiting for the top Private Banking Team
Atlanta-based Bison Wealth, which manages about $1.6 billion in assets for almost 2,000 households and more than 150 institutional investors, picked up a team from Key Private Bank that manages $750 million.
Matthew Crecium and Rand Siegel are the third team to join the Bison this year. They have been working together for the past 13 years.
“I am confident that by joining forces with Bison Wealth, we will be able to provide our clients with even greater access to the latest research, technology and strategic insights to help them achieve their financial goals, Siegel said in a statement.
Bison hired Tom Scaturro late last year to lead expansion and acquisition efforts and expects to make more announcements in the coming months.
Evermay Wealth Management acquires Insight Wealth Management
Evermay Wealth Management, an Arlington, Va., RIA that manages just over $1 billion, bought Insight Wealth Management a half-hour west in Gainesville, Va.
In December, Evermay acquired $73 million in assets managed by Insight Wealth Management, which was owned and operated by Bob Pugh, who has become a senior wealth advisor at Evermay, and his wife, Senior Relationship Manager with Client, Elaine Pugh.
According to a release, Pugh was looking for a firm with a similar fee structure, business model and fiduciary emphasis, “and he also liked the firm's leadership and personnel.”
“I didn't want to grow a big business and I needed to deal with personnel,” he said in a statement. “It always places the same emphasis on professionalism and experience as we do, including more professionals who have earned their CFA and CFP designations than any other firm of comparable size we considered.”
“As the fifth acquisition in Evermay's history, we always love when we identify partners who share our philosophy and values,” added President and Co-Founder Will Pitt.
Additional people movements:
- Joe DeBello, an institutional retirement plan advisor, has become a vice president at Captrust in Tampa, Fla. He previously led the Florida-based retirement plan advisory team at OneDigital, where he most recently served as managing director in the Tampa and Sarasota markets.
- Boston-based GW&K Investment Management, a $50 billion AUM RIA offering a range of active equity and fixed income investments, has named Bryan Scott, Aaron Clark and Kara South as partners.
Scott, who joined the firm in 2005, has been named director of enterprise data and analytics. In this newly created role, he will handle “data-driven” decision-making, performance measurement and systems integration.
Clark joined the firm in 2015 and is the lead portfolio manager for its diversified equity strategy as well as the firm's equity dividend plus strategy. He was previously a director and portfolio manager at Tetrem Capital Management and also managed key portfolios for Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Pioneer Investments.
South joined the firm in 2022 as a municipal bond portfolio manager. She is a member of the firm's Investment, Product Development and ESG Committees and co-chair of the Women in Finance Committee. She was previously a senior portfolio manager and co-head of credit research at Income Research + Management.
- RWA Wealth Partners, a $14 billion RIA formed in 2023 by the merger of Ropes Wealth Advisors, Adviser Investments and Polaris Wealth Advisory Group, has hired Greg Evans to lead equity compensation planning. He comes to RWK after 28 years with Fidelity Investments, most recently as director of equity plan executive services.