The US-headquartered group, formed via CI Financial's 2023 rebrand of its US wealth arm, continues to make large wealth management acquisitions.

Miami-headquartered Corient has made one of its largest acquisitions yet on what is already a buying spree. Corient announced today it has acquired Summit Trail Advisors, the RIA that focuses on ultra-high net worth clients, overseeing more than $21 billion of client money.

Summit Trail is headquartered in New York. 

Financial terms weren’t disclosed by Corient. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.

Summit was founded in 2015, and acts as an outsourced family office and chief investment officer. It delivers wealth and estate planning, integrated investment management across public and private markets. It also provides family office services through advisory practices.

“With their [Summit’s] deep experience in ultra-high-net-worth advisory, the Summit Trail team will be a strong addition to our partnership, extending our expertise and broadening our client relationships across the country,” Kurt MacAlpine, founding partner and CEO of Corient, said in a statement. 

Summit Trail was founded by Jack Petersen, Dave Romhilt, Tom Palecek, John Scarborough and Peter Lee. The firm is led by its co-founders and a team of partners and colleagues operating in major metropolitan markets, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Newport Beach, California, and Portland, Oregon.

Upon closing, Summit Trail principals will become Corient Partners. 

Corient has carried out a raft of deals in recent months, and how has more than 300 partners and more than 2,700 employees. The business manages approximately $556 billion globally.

Ardea Partners serves as exclusive financial advisor and Seward & Kissel serves as legal counsel to Summit Trail. Goldman Sachs acts as exclusive financial advisor and Sidley Austin serves as legal counsel to Corient.

Run of deals
The Summit deal extends a run of acquisitions. At the end of July, it announced it was buying Seven Bridges Advisors, a New York-based firm. In April, Corient bought Europe's Bedrock Group, which managed SFr8.4 billion ($10.4 billion) in client assets, following last year's purchases of Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital. 

In January, it acquired Palo Alto Wealth Advisors, a California-based RIA with $766.7 million in AuM, and the multi-family office business of US-based Geller. It has also bought Bristlecone Advisors, a Bellevue, Washington-based RIA with about $2 billion in AuM, and Dallas-based Messick Peacock & Associates.

Shortly after the Stanhope Capital and Stonehage Fleming deals, Corient snapped up Breed’s Hill Capital, a Boston-based MFO with about $3.5 billion in assets under management. See another deal here.

Corient was formed through CI Financial's 2023 rebrand of its US wealth arm, before CI Financial was taken private in 2024 in a deal backed by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital