Hightower and Mercer were busy with a series of M&A moves during the second half of the summer months.

A roundup of M&A moves in July and August. Many of the acquisitions involved Mercer and Hightower.

Hightower
The firm invested in Vigilant Wealth Management, a wealth management business with offices in Portland, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It manages around $2.3 billion in client assets across 500 households. 

It made a strategic investment in Boston Hill Advisors, a $1 billion, RIA that is based in North Andover, Massachusetts. It has three offices in the state. Founded in 2006 by managing partners, Joseph Trainor, and Michael Edwards, it serves high net worth individuals and institutional clients, primarily in the New England region. Boston Hill Advisors has 17 employees, including eight advisors serving about 1,000 client relationships. The financial terms were not disclosed.

It made a strategic investment in Meyer Capital Group, a $1.6 billion firm with offices in Marlton, New Jersey, and Naples, Florida. With 17 employees, including 10 advisors, Meyer Capital Group serves more than 800 clients.

Hightower facilitated a merger for Fairport Wealth, a Cleveland, Ohio-based business that acquired Wealth CMT, a $300 million RIA in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Wealth CMT is an independent principal-run business.

Hightower facilitated a sub-acquisition on behalf of Highland Private Wealth Management (Highland), its advisory business based in Bellevue, Washington. Highland bought Trellis Advisors, a registered investment advisor in Ellensburg, Washington. Trellis, with more than $470 million in assets under management, brings Highland's total AuM to $1.9 billion.

Mercer
Mercer Global Advisors, the RIA, bought RMR Wealth Advisors, a firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. RMR, founded in 2009, oversees about $350 million in client money.

tru Independence, a $10 billion national independent advisory partnership firm, added Gainline Financial Partners to its network of advisors. Gainline, based in Denver, Colorado, became the first firm in that city to align with tru. It used to be affiliated with Wells Fargo's FiNet. Gainline made the switch because it recognized the advantages of tru’s experience as a service business solution and tru’s behavioral finance, fintech and human capital-driven platform.

Mercer bought wealth manager Day & Ennis. Based in Macon, Georgia, Day & Ennis, which was founded by John R Day, serves about 250 clients with assets under management of around $400 million, the firm said in a statement. Day works with partners Bill Ennis and Matt Heller.

It bought Private Asset Management (PAM) to strengthen its California presence. PAM is a wealth management firm headquartered in San Diego, led by CEO Jeffrey S Witt. PAM, which serves more than 600 clients with assets under management of about $720 million, provides manifold services to high net worth, and UHNW clients.

Savant
Savant Wealth Management, the US RIA, bought another RIA – The Relaxing Retirement Coach, a business with $483 million of assets under management. The Relaxing Retirement Coach, which has six employees, is located in Wellesley, Maine.

WP Financial
WP Financial, affiliated with US-based Private Advisor Group, acquired Sage Financial, a $95 million firm in its neighboring community in Connecticut. The deal brought WP’s AuM up to $650 million. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Creative Planning
Creative Planning, the RIA, inked a new multi-billion custody relationship with Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions, part of Goldman Sachs. 

LPL Financial 
LPL Financial entered a definitive purchase agreement to buy the wealth management business of Crown Capital Securities, a broker-dealer and RIA headquartered in Orange County, California. Crown, founded in 1999, supports about 260 financial advisors, who serve around $6.5 billion of advisory and brokerage assets. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

MAI Capital
MAI Capital, a Cleveland-based RIA, acquired Asset Management Group (AMG), marking its 30th acquisition since 2018. Based in Northbrook, Illinois, the acquisition of AMG expands MAI’s footprint in the greater Chicago region, including an office in Deerfield.

Cetera
Cetera Financial Group acquired Powell Financial Partners, a Georgetown, Texas-based wealth management firm. Powell Financial Partners is led by father-daughter team Mickey Powell and Jennifer Powell, who are affiliated with Cetera Wealth Partners, a community that is part of Cetera Advisor Networks. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Integrated Partners, an RIA overseeing more than $15.5 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, said that Colorado-based PRISM Financial Strategies had joined its ranks as an affiliate partner. PRISM is an independent registered investment advisory firm led by managing partner and financial strategist Jeff Engelman. Engelman started his career in wirehouses, notably Morgan Stanley.

Cetera completed its acquisition of the retail wealth and trust business of Securian Financial Group. Cetera purchased certain assets related to Securian Financial Services, as well as the equity of Securian Trust Company, NA, which is now a standalone Cetera entity named Cetera Trust Company, NA.

Summit, Avantax
Avantax, the US wealth planning and management firm, acquired Summit Wealth Advocates (Summit), a Minnesota-based firm with about $330 million in total client assets as of June 30.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Prior to the acquisition, Summit, which was founded by Bruce Primeau in 2010, was not affiliated with Avantax.