Arax Investment Partners, a wealth management platform backed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, has acquired SRS Capital Advisors, a $1.7 billion AUM Denver-based registered investment advisor.
The firm is the latest to join Arax's multi-boutique strategy, in which the company acquires independent RIAs operating under their own Forms ADV that are not included in Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, an RIA Arax acquired last year. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Pure-play, advisory-fee-only RIAs are a core pillar of Arax's multi-boutique strategy, and SRS is a key part of that vertical as we look to continue to scale and diversify,” said Mike Zabik, partner, RedBird , in a statement. .
SRS was originally founded in 2004 by David Simon, managing director, under the name SimonDavis Asset Management. Simon, along with managing directors Michael Riordan and Patrick South, will continue to lead the firm.
UBS Investment Bank advised Arax on the deal, while Waller Helms and Park Sutton Advisors advised SRS.
In conjunction with the acquisition, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth announced that it has also added Fisher Private Wealth, an Aspen, Colo.-based team. with $270 million in AUM. The team, led by Jamie Fisher, joins from Wells Fargo Advisors and will use Ashton Thomas Securities, the firm's hybrid broker/dealer for the brokerage business. The team will operate out of Timberline Bank's Aspen branch. This follows the addition of Confluence Private Wealth, a team at Timberline Bank's Grand Junction, Colo., headquarters.
“After months of due diligence, I have concluded that the Ashton Thomas ecosystem proactively supports the delivery of exceptional service and customer-focused solutions,” Fisher said in a statement.
Arax announced its investment in Ashton Thomas Private Wealth last September.
Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Ashton Thomas was founded in 2010 and provides fee-based financial planning, investment portfolio management, retirement plan counseling and financial education to foundations, businesses and affluent individuals and families.
This follows news in early April that Arax had acquired US Capital Wealth Advisors is a hybrid broker/dealer and RIA with $9 billion in total assets, 5,500 clients and 62 advisors.
Arax now has $19 billion in assets under management and advice.