A number of M&A deals were consummated or started in February. One significant deal was the private equity house's pitch for Focus Financial, looking to take a listed wealth management group off the listed market.

Pathstone
Pathstone agreed to buy Rex Capital Advisors, a firm that is based in Providence, Rhode Island. Rex Capital, which caters to ultra-high net worth clients, oversees about $1.5 billion in assets. The combination brought Pathstone's total assets under advisement and administration to nearly $80 billion. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius served as legal counsel for Rex Capital Advisors and Alston and Bird for Pathstone.

Sanctuary, Chappell
Sanctuary Wealth, the network of firms, welcomed Chappell Wealth Management. The business has seven people and is based in The Woodlands, Texas. The firm is led by Brent Chappell, Brad Chappell, Michael Mills, and Spencer Carlson. With close to $1.5 billion in assets under management, the team is the 17th in Texas to choose Sanctuary's model of partnered independence. To date, Chappell Wealth Management is the largest producing wirehouse breakaway team to join forces with Sanctuary since the firm's launch in 2018.

Titan, Parthenon
UK-based Titan Wealth Holdings announced a new investment from Parthenon Capital, a US-based private equity firm. On completion, Parthenon became majority shareholder in Titan, which represents its first platform investment in the UK. Existing Titan Wealth investors, Ares, Hambleden Capital and Maven Capital Partners remain invested and committed to the business.

ZEDRA, Atlas
ZEDRA completed a rebrand of US and Curaçao-based, Atlas Fund Services. The rebranding followed the firm’s acquisition by ZEDRA in November 2022. Team members in Charlotte, North Carolina and Curaçao provide tailored and alternative investment fund services to private equity and hedge funds to emerging and experienced investment managers based in the US and throughout Latin America.

Sequoia, Zeke
Ohio-based Sequoia Financial Group agreed to buy Zeke Capital Advisors, a multi-family office with more than $5 billion in client assets. The deal doubled Sequoia’s total family wealth practice AuM. The financial terms were not disclosed. 

Akron-based Sequoia provides asset management and financial planning services across the wealth spectrum – from individuals to family offices – with locations through central and southeastern US. 

Zeke, founded in 2008 in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, by Edward Antoian, is a multi-family office that provides generational family wealth management to individuals, families, and foundations. From March 1, Zeke began operating under the Sequoia Financial Group brand.

Dynasty, TruClarity
Dynasty Financial Partners agreed to buy fellow Florida-based firm TruClarity Management Solutions for an undisclosed sum. Based in St Petersburg, Florida, TruClarity was founded in 2015; it provides solutions for financial advisors that want to go independent. 

Hightower, Bickling
Chicago-based wealth manager Hightower made an investment in Bickling Financial Services, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based registered investment advisor. With 14 employees, Bickling Financial Services, with about $625 million in assets under management, provides wealth management and financial planning services designed to help clients achieve their long-term personal and financial goals. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Hightower, TC Wealth
Hightower facilitated a merger between TC Wealth Partners and EFG Advisors, bringing TC Wealth Partners' assets to more than $2 billion. Led by Thomas P Olexa, EFG is an independent, boutique wealth management, estate and financial planning firm that serves business owners personally and throughout the full lifecycle of their businesses, the firm said in a statement. TC Wealth Partners also provides diversified wealth, trust and advisory services to more than 800 clients throughout the country.

Clarity, Steward
Clarity Private Wealth Solutions, a business based in Mobile, Alabama and formerly affiliated with Wells Fargo Advisors, transitioned to work with Steward Partners Global Advisory. The group, led by Charles B Bailey, had previously operated as Ferguson Bailey Private Wealth Management Group. The team, which also includes senior registered client associate Kellie Thompson, oversees about $250 million assets under management. 

Mirador, Fusion
Mirador, the managed services firm in the wealth management industry, completed its purchase of Fusion Financial Partners, an agency serving RIAs. Fusion provides strategic and execution services strategy development, revenue growth solutions, pricing and compensation, tuck-in roadmap and execution, succession planning, and breakaway advisor launch services. These services, including Fusion Scorecard™, and Fusion oCGO™, are incorporated into Mirador’s broader client offerings. The combined companies operate under the Mirador brand with nearly 200 employees serving private family offices, multi-family offices, wealthy families, RIA firms of all sizes, wirehouses, asset managers, TAMPs, banks, insurance companies, credit unions, endowments and foundations.

MetLife, Raven
MetLife Investment Management agreed to acquire Raven Capital Management, a privately-owned alternative investment firm. Metlife IM is the institutional asset management business of MetLife. As of December 31, 2022, Raven’s assets under management totaled $2.1 billion. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morgan Stanley, Huaxin
Morgan Stanley Investment Management won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to take a full controlling stake in Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds. Based in Shenzhen, Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds became a joint venture in June 2008.

Focus, CD&R
US-listed Focus Financial Partners, which holds a cluster of wealth managers in a number of countries, received a proposal from buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice to take it private at a $4.1 billion valuation. CD&R offered to buy the investment advisory firm for $53 per share in cash, with Focus now engaging in exclusive talks with CD&R aimed at negotiating the terms of a deal.

Emigrant, SteelPeak
Emigrant Partners, the capital and advisory firm working with wealth and asset managers, took a strategic but non-voting stake in SteelPeak Wealth – the second such stake it took in a month. SteelPeak, based in Los Angeles, manages $2 billion in assets for more than 1,700 clients. Emigrant Partners said its move provides SteelPeak with capital and strategic resources to pursue its next growth phase. The financial terms were not disclosed.