$24 billion advisory firm Lido Advisors is merging with Pegasus Partners, a Wisconsin-based registered investment adviser with more than $3 billion in assets under management.
The deal will strengthen Lido's commitment to ultra-high net worth families in the Midwest region “and beyond,” according to Lido Advisors president Ken Stern.
Pegasus was founded in 2015 and is based in Mequon, Wisc., specializing in comprehensive wealth management and family office needs for UHNW families. The firm focuses on investment management, financial planning, family wealth transfers and alternative investments. It is led by CEO Todd Krieg and President Matt D'Attilio, who both co-founded the firm.
“In Lido, we found a partner who shares our mission to put clients' interests first and serve them with deep investment capabilities, selective alternatives and advanced wealth planning,” said Krieg.
Pegasus' 22 employees are joining Lido as part of the deal, with most becoming partners. Park Sutton Advisors served as financial advisor to Pegasus in the merger.
In an interview with WealthManagement.comLido CEO Jason Ozur said the firm was drawn to Pegasus' “robust and scalable investment process” for alternatives, as well as a level of sophistication in alt due diligence, particularly private equity funds and other types of funds. .
“And this is a great complement to Lido Advisors' alternative strategy and our alternatives department,” Ozur said.
He said any M&A deal for the firm had to offer a combination of talent and geography, and Pegasus met both needs, with the region being an area where they would “always want to plant a flag”.
“And we have a very large customer base in Milwaukee,” he said. “To be able to partner with them in that geography was really exciting.”
Los Angeles-based Lido Advisors was founded in 1999 and has 15 physical offices nationwide. It serves more than 4,700 clients (about 805 of whom are UHNW). Private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners is the majority owner of Lido, after buying her shares in RIA in 2021. Charlesbank oversaw investments for Harvard University's funding before returning as a middle market PE investor.
Since Charlesbank took a majority stake, the firm's assets under management have grown from about $6 billion to $24 billion.
At the beginning of this year, Lido sold a small stake to Constellation Wealth Capitalprivate equity firm founded by former Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg. Constellation was launched in 2023 and has invested in two California-based firms in addition to Lido.
Days before Lido's announcement, $6.5 billion AUM Bay Area-based Perigon Wealth became Constellation's second partner in California, as Constellation invested $2.6 billion in the firm AlphaCore Wealth Advisory the end of last year.
in June, Lido made the first deal after it sold the Constellation stake when it bought Shore Morgan Young, a $615 million RIA based in New Albany, Ohio (which has become known as “The Silicon Heartland” and is seen as an emerging tech hub).