Kingswood US, which is part of a network of independent firms overseeing more than $15 billion in client assets, has acquired Nashville-based Eudaimonia Group, three registered investment advisory firms managing more than $1 billion active in 17 advisers. The deal adds Eudaimonia Partners and Eudaimonia Advisors to Kingswood's corporate RIA. It also brings an in-house asset management platform, Eudaimonia Asset Management, to Kingswood advisers.
As part of the deal, which closed Sept. 1, Eudaimonia founder and president John Goodson will serve as its group president, reporting to Michael Nessim, CEO, president and managing partner of Kingswood US
Nessim said this is Kingswood's first acquisition of this size and that the firm plans to do similar deals in the future. in 2020, Kingswood won Chalice Wealth Advisors and Chalice Capital Partners, an RIA and independent broker/dealer, respectively, setting the stage for the company's growth.
In the past three years, Kingswood has grown its RIA from about $150 million to $1.6 billion, excluding Eudaimonia, primarily through organic growth and advisor recruitment.
The acquisition builds Kingswood's presence in the Nashville area, “a growing wealth center,” Nessim said. It also brings the RIA to significant scale, with almost $3 billion in assets.
“It starts to bring us to an offer where we start to see $10 billion in our eyes,” he said.
Eudaimonia holds custody with Raymond James and Charles Schwab, two of Kingswood's custodians, so there will be no repairs. Kingswood also uses RBC and Apex Clearing for custody.
Goodson will assist Kingswood with recruitment and potential M&A opportunities.
“Working with Eudaimonia and expanding our presence in increasingly important southern market positions Kingswood US for additional large-scale acquisitions,” said Jamie Golden, Kingswood US head of acquisitions.