A summary of M&A moves in the first three months of 2024. Prominent names in the mix included MAI, Mercer, and AITi Tiedemann.

A summary of mergers and acquisitions in the North America wealth sector during January, February, and March this year. Details may be subsequently adjusted. 

Integrated Partners
Integrated Partners, a US RIA overseeing more than $12.7 billion in advisory assets, partnered with Wright, Ford, Young & Co of Orange County, California. This collaboration paved the way for the introduction of WFY Wealth Management.

Advisory Services Network
Advisory Services Network in the US brought two new teams to its platform: The Bruce Wealth Group in Vero Beach, Florida, with about $35 million in client assets; and Lexington, Kentucky-based Acuity Wealth Management, with around $100 million in client assets.

Caprock
Caprock, the US multi-family office and RIA, made its first-ever acquisition, buying Grey Street Capital, a Chicago-based advisory firm with $2.2 billion in client assets. The deal brought Caprock's assets under advisement to more than $11 billion.

Singlife
Singlife, the business created out of a merger in 2022 between Aviva Singapore and Singlife, became a fully owned subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Life Insurance Company. Regulators in Japan and Singapore gave the green light to the transaction, originally announced in December last year. Following the transaction, Singlife is valued at S$4.6 billion ($3.42 billion).

Carson Wealth
Omaha-headquartered Carson Wealth added its 13th wholly-owned office with a new location in Elkhorn, Nebraska. The three-person team, managing more than $163 million in assets, is led by managing directors and wealth advisors, David Carroll and Jon Springer along with client services manager, Jessica Fricke.

Osaic
Osaic, a US wealth management services provider, added Latitude Wealth Advisors, which is based in Hauppauge, New York. The firm used to be affiliated with Ameriprise Financial.

Mercer Global Advisors
Denver-headquartered Mercer Global Advisors, a national Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), acquired MDK Private Wealth Management, continuing its run of M&A transactions. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. MDK a wealth management firm located in Seattle, Washington, with assets under supervision of over $2.5 billion, serves an ultra-high net worth clientele using a goals-based planning approach.

Mercer Global Advisors acquired River Glen Wealth Counselors, a wealth management firm located in West Des Moines, Iowa. The terms of the financial transactions were not disclosed. River Glen, which was founded by Matt Busick in 2008, serves about 160 clients with assets under management of $275 million. Randy Von Fumetti, an industry veteran, brought his practice to River Glen in 2015.

MercerGlobal Advisors acquired Transitions Wealth Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.

MAI Capital Management
MAI Capital Management, a US investment advisor, agreed to buy LWS Wealth Advisors for an undisclosed sum.

Headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, LWS serves high net worth and ultra-HNW clients and families nationwide. The firm had $562 million in client assets under management at the time of the acquisition.

MAI Capital Management also bought Cincinnati-based wealth firm, WaterStone Investment Counsel, a firm founded in 1995 by Mark Roberts and Don Brosz, with $144 million of client assets. The financial terms were not disclosed. WaterStone adopted MAI’s brand identity and receives MAI’s internal infrastructure affecting all firms that MAI acquires, such as HR, operations, and marketing resources. 

MAI also acquired Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management, a business based in Santa Rosa in Northern California’s Sonoma County. Traverso co-founders Marc Traverso and Tim Chambers both assumed the title of regional president.

At the start of January, MAI bought Madison Wealth Management, a business that adds to MAI’s footprint in Northern Virginia and Ohio. That deal add $1.4 billion in assets under management to MAI. The firm also acquired R Karras Asset Management & Planning, aka Karras, a firm with $110 million of assets.

F2 Strategy
Chicago-headquartered F2 Strategy, a wealth management technology services company, acquired a boutique marketing consultancy – SKY Marketing Consultants. The St Louis-based firm specializes in providing branding and marketing advisor services for wealth management firms and their advisors. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Robertson Stephens
Robertson Stephens Wealth Management reached $5 billion in AuM by adding a new firm to its network. The firm, based in Connecticut, is the Thrush Group, run by William (Bill) Thrush and Meghan Rump. It manages more than $180 million in advisory assets. Thrush and Rump joined as managing directors.

LPL Financial
LPL Financial, a US-based group, brought Continuity Private Wealth to its strategic wealth services unit. Continuity is based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

AlTi Tiedemann Global
Allianz X and Constellation Wealth Capital invested up to $450 million into AlTi Tiedemann Global, the transatlantic multi-family office, so that it can finance M&A activity. 

CWC, an investment advisory firm specialising in making investments in wealth managers, is investing $150 million. Allianz X, an investment arm of Allianz SE, is investing up to $300 million through one of its affiliates.  

Pathstone
Pathstone agreed to buy Colorado-based Crestone Capital. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1991 by Eric Kramer, Crestone advises about 150 families representing more than $3 billion in client assets. The firm is completely owned by its roster of more than 50 employees. It has offices in Boulder Colorado, Texas, and California. Upon completion, the Crestone acquisition brought Pathstone’s total assets under advisement and administration to over $100 billion.

Rockefeller
Rockefeller Global Family Office, the wealth management arm of Rockefeller Capital Management, added Variant Path Group, a 10-person team based in Charlotte, North Carolina.   

Partners Capital
General Atlantic, a US private equity firm, took a minority stake in Partners Capital, the outsourced chief investment office. The stake was acquired by Partners Capital’s external shareholders and some of the founding generation partners. The financial size of the transaction was not disclosed.

EP Wealth Advisors
California-headquartered EP Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisor, expanded its Southern Utah office through the acquisition of Parker Advisory Group. Based in St George, Utah, Parker Advisory Group provided financial planning and investment advisory services to clients primarily in the Utah and Nevada regions for more than 14 years. 

Private Advisor Group.
The RIA said that Poterack Capital Advisory, a four-person wealth management firm overseeing a reported more than $120 million in assets under management, had joined its network.

Carson Wealth
Carson Wealth added two new offices in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Chester, Vermont, part of a strategic partnership with Fisher Financial Advisors, now rebranded as Carson Wealth.

Heffernan
Heffernan Insurance Brokers and Heffernan Financial Services acquired Florida-based First Coast Wealth Advisors. The firm is in St Augustine. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Pacific Crest Planning
Kennewick, Washington State-based Pacific Crest Planning, a wealth management practice managing over $525 million in client assets, recently joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial. Previously, it was with RBC Capital Markets.

LibertyFi
LibertyFi, a technology and operations consultancy focused on the RIA sector, merged with Aptus Capital Advisors, a chief investment office and outsourced CIO practice. The financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. The combined firm has more than $20 billion in client assets. 

Constellation, Lido
Constellation Wealth Capital took a minority stake in Lido Advisors, an RIA. As a result of the deal, CWC joined Lido’s lead investor Charlesbank Capital Partners.

Private Advisor Group, Drake Financial Services
Private Advisor Group said Drake Financial Services, led by Robert K Drake, joined its community of advisors. Drake oversees more than $100 million of client assets.

Oracle Private Wealth Advisors, Summit Financial
Oracle Private Wealth Advisors, an all-women business, joined Summit Financial, continuing a number of firms hooking up with Summit’s business model. The Oracle team, which is based in Lutherville, Maryland, has operated for 15 years. 

AEW Europe, the real estate manager with €82.6 billion ($90.6 billion) of assets under management, as at the end of September last year, wrapped up its purchase of Natixis Investment Managers International's private debt business. The Natixis business originates and structures infrastructure and private debt real asset investments.

Laird Norton Wetherby
Laird Norton Wealth Management and Wetherby Asset Management, two US firms, united under a single brand: Laird Norton Wetherby, or LNW. Laird Norton Wealth Management was based in Pacific Northwest, while Wetherby Asset Management was in San Francisco. Filament, which offered family office and investment advisory services to clients with “significant” wealth, merged with Laird Norton Wealth Management in December 2020. Collectively, LNW has more than $14 billion in assets under management.

Savant
Savant Wealth Management, the RIA, bought FirstWave Financial, an independent RIA with $440 million in assets under management in Satellite Beach, Florida.

Hightower
Hightower made a strategic investment in Capital Management Group of New York, a firm overseeing $3.3 billion of assets. CMG has offices in New York City and Pearl River, New York. The financial terms were not disclosed by Hightower.