Agents and clients of a San Francisco-based firm with more than $800 million in client assets under management will join Arete Wealth Management.

Although it is merging with Arete, Portsmouth Financial Services will retain its business name while continuing to retain client assets at Pershing. The “back-in” through the purchase of assets will bring about 40 advisers under the care of Arete and will end a multi-year search for a partner. As part of the deal, Portsmouth will cease its operations as an independent broker/dealer and operate as an Arete branch office.

Portsmouth was founded in 2001. Chairman Ray Lent and CEO Echo Chien will lead the office after the transition. Lent said Portsmouth chose Arete because of its “people, culture and commitment to wealth management excellence”.

Arete Wealth was founded in 2007 and is based in Chicago. The firm has about $6.1 billion in assets under management and employs about 230 wealth advisers in more than 50 offices across the country, according to the firm.

In January 2022, b/d and investment advisory firm recruited Fincadia Group, a 66-rep “super branch” managing more than $2.5 billion in assets; the firm left National Securities Corp. to join Arete.

At the end of 2021, Arete signed a two-year deal with Masterworks, a platform to invest in art securities, to be the only managing b/d for Masterworks securities. Arete opened a branch office in New York with about 50 Masterworks employees.