Canada’s CI Financial, US-based Mercer Advisors and CAPTRUST, among others, have been snapping up RIA businesses. A desire for scale comes with increased client and tech spending demands, coupled with some RIA owners’ wish to retire and seek exits.

Canada-based CI Financial has completed its acquisition of Radnor Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, with $2.6 billion in assets. The deal adds to a run of purchases CI Financial has made in the US wealth management sector over the past two years. 

CI first announced that it had agreed to acquire Radnor in June. Founded in 1989, Radnor serves a client base of more than 300 high net worth individuals, families and senior corporate executives from its office in the Philadelphia area. The firm’s specialties include wealth management and executive compensation.

Since entering the US RIA sector in January 2020, CI has been on a buying spree. When all deals are concluded, CI’s US business will include 16 RIAs serving clients across the country, with assets totaling about $75 billion. CI’s total assets globally are expected to reach approximately $254 billion.

The acquisitions are part of a busy M&A period in the North American wealth management sector, driven by firms’ desire to build scale to handle rising client expectations and regulatory requirements, as well as a wish by founders seeking retirement to exit the business. FWR has noted, meanwhile, that the mass of M&A activity seen among RIAs hasn’t yet been mirrored by comparable levels of transactions among multi-family offices. (See an interview here with wealth sector consultant Jamie McLaughlin, who explained in detail why this is the case.)

DeVoe & Company, a business tracking M&A trends in the North American market, issued a report about latest trends in the space here.

CI Financial managed and advised on approximately C$309 billion ($248 billion) in client assets as of July 31. CI Financial’s primary asset management businesses are CI Global Asset Management (CI Investments Inc) and GSFM Pty Ltd, and it operates in Canadian wealth management through CI Assante Wealth Management (Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd), CI Private Counsel LP, Aligned Capital Partners Inc, CI Direct Investing (WealthBar Financial Services Inc), and CI Investment Services Inc.

In the US, CI Financial’s US wealth management businesses consist of Barrett Asset Management, LLC, Bowling Portfolio Management LLC, Brightworth, LLC, The Cabana Group, LLC, Congress Wealth Management, LLC, Dowling & Yahnke, LLC, Doyle Wealth Management, LLC, One Capital Management, LLC, Radnor Financial Advisors, The Roosevelt Investment Group, LLC, RGT Wealth Advisors, LLC, Segall, Bryant & Hamill, LLC, Stavis & Cohen Private Wealth, LLC, and Surevest LLC.