Merit Financial Advisorsan LPL-affiliated hybrid RIA that oversees $10 billion in client assets has acquired a $542 million firm formerly affiliated with the Mariner Independent Advisor Network.
Viren and Associates was founded in 2004 in Spokane, Wash., and provides financial and estate planning, 401(k) plan management and a variety of insurance services to approximately 750 clients. Co-founder Beth Viren is moving into an informal support role as part of the transition, while husband and co-founder Paul Viren joins Meri as a partner and wealth manager along with a team of six that includes two financial planners, two administrative assistants. and two insurance professionals.
“Paul Viren is particularly skilled in estate planning and has a passion for advanced estate planning strategies,” said Merit President Kay Lynn Mayhue. “We look forward to working with him and using him along with our other team members in the financial planning department and our JD on staff to extend that knowledge base to our other advisors.”
Mayhue said corporate retirement, estate planning and insurance solutions are all areas of focus for Merit, noting that the firm has built support and technology that will also provide additional efficiencies and services to Viren's clients.
The deal creates Merit's fourth office in Washington and its first in the eastern part of the state.
Founded by CEO Rick Kent in 2007, Merit has now completed 25 acquisitions since selling a minority stake in late 2020 to Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC. In that time, the firm has grown from 19 office locations and $4.8 billion in client assets to more than 40 locations and $10 billion in reported assets at the end of 2023, including $2.7 billion held in LPL.
In February, Merit debuted a new iteration of its pre-existing 1099 affiliate model for advisors looking for a non-sales support platform. The option was available but was not an area of focus until recently, according to Kent and Mayhue. They said a number of those firms ultimately chose to be acquired, and the membership model provides a needed service while having the added benefit of serving as a hotbed for other potential deals.
“If we can create an atmosphere where they can park for a while and learn from other successful advisors, but still stay in control, that will allow them to offload those things they don't want to do anymore ,' Kent said. “They can outsource us, they can control their time frame, and then they can consider us as their succession plan when they're ready to go.”
“It's a good way to get ahead before you get married,” Mayhue said. “We have a dozen or so conversations going on right now. And, in some cases, we quickly end up talking about buying them in and bringing them on as regional directors.”
Merit's growth strategy is based on finding good leaders and building regional centers capable of above-average organic growth and inorganic expansion, she explained.
“We have more than 250 counselors now,” she said. “And we're continuing to raise leaders to help us manage the business as it grows. We feel confident that we'll be around $14 or $15 billion by the end of the year, and I don't see that kind of growth slowing down anytime soon.”
“The acquisitions and partnerships that we've been able to create have created a flywheel and there are a lot more people moving into leadership,” agreed Kent. “And that will give us a springboard into the next 3-5 years.”