The latest mergers and acquisitions at Mercer Advisors, a US registered investment advisor and financial planning firm.

Mercer Advisors has acquired Harrison & Company Wealth Management to expand its East Coast presence.

HCO is a wealth management firm located in Roanoke, Virginia, with assets under management of around $150 million, the firm said in a statement. Founded by Bruce Harrison CFP®, senior partner, HCO’s team will also be joining Mercer Advisors.

HCO’s approach to financial management, which begins with financial planning and investment management, enables clients to achieve confidence and clarity about their financial life, the firm added.

Welcoming the move, Bruce Harrison said he loved the in-house family office services they offer such as estate planning, tax return preparation, corporate trustee services, all while taking over our back-office duties and creating excess capacity.

David Barton, vice chairman and former CEO of Mercer Advisors, who led this acquisition stated: “They chose to join us and the cultural fit between our two firms is superior.”

“This is a win-win transaction for all concerned and this acquisition builds on our already deep presence in the Virginia, DC area,” he added.    

Dave Welling, chief executive officer of Mercer Advisors, said: “We are thrilled they are joining the Mercer Advisors’ team and expanding our presence in Virginia. We look forward to working together to help deliver meaningful results for our shared clients.”

Mercer Advisors is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors, majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, a large registered investment advisor and financial planning firm in the US with over $38 billion in client assets. Based in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 670 employees, and operates nationally through 60+ offices across the country. In June Mercer acquired wealth management firm Bivin and Associates, in a bid to expand its mid-west presence, adding $575 million of assets under management. Bivin is a wealth management firm based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, with AUM of approximately $130 million. Also in June, it acquired Fure Financial Corporation and Berkson Asset Management. The firm in May said it had merged with HYA Advisors, and related entity Heim, Young & Associates.

The transaction is an example of the kind of continued M&A activity that has been going on in the US in recent years, even during much of the pandemic when due diligence on transactions was more difficult to pull off. As regulatory costs and client expectations around service/technology rise, firms have chased economies of scale via deals. Also, a significant chunk of RIA owners are retiring in the next decade and seek an orderly exit strategy. Coupled with the “breakaway” phenomenon of advisors leaving large firms to set up their own shops, it creates a considerable amount of corporate deal activity. Besides Mercer, other significant M&A plays have come from Focus Financial, Hightower and CI Financial, among others.