Minneapolis-based Wealth Enhancement Group, the registered investment advisor with over $85.4 billion in client assets, has acquired Peak Financial Services, a $123 million hybrid RIA. Northborough, Mass.-based Peak is WEG's fourth location in the state.
Peak was founded in 1995 by President Kevin O'Brien. It specializes in working with clients who are at or near retirement and executives of high-tech and biotech companies.
“After receiving multiple offers from well-known national RIA firms, we selected Wealth Growth Group because our approaches to client service, investment disciplines and philosophies, and comprehensive wealth management are well aligned,” O'Brien said in a statement.
O'Brien said he looks forward to expanding the services offered to his clients by utilizing WEG's dedicated investment management, trust, estate planning and tax professionals.
Peak's deal follows WEG's last week's acquisition of Starfox Financial Servicesan RIA with more than $254 million in assets in The Woodlands, Texas.
The deals come just weeks after a man who claims to have co-founded WEG filed a lawsuit against the acquiring RIAalleging that she refused to pay him “finder's fees” for firms the company later acquired.
Gerald “Jerry” Bernard filed the lawsuit in Minnesota's Hennepin County, seeking more than $50,000. According to the lawsuit, Bernard has over 40 years in the wealth management industry and co-founded WEG with his wife, Madeline, in 1996.
A WEG spokesman said the claims have no merit and the firm will defend against them.
Among the most active RIA acquirers in recent years, WEG completed 18 deals last year, 14 in 2022 and 16 in 2021.
Founded in 1997, WEG has grown from $4 billion in AUM to over $85 billion since selling a majority stake to Lightyear Capital in 2015. TA Associates acquired Lightyear Capital's investment in 2019 when the firm oversaw approximately $12 billion. Onex Partners took ownership in 2021, just as the firm approached $40 billion in AUM.