Savant Wealth Management Acquires Virginia RIA

Editorial Staff

7 July 2022

Savant Wealth Management, the US RIA overseeing more than $13 billion in assets under management and advisement at end-March, has bought Alliant Wealth Advisors, a Manassas, Virginia-based RIA firm. Alliant has $262 million in AuM/AuA.

The acquisition, which closed June 30, is Savant’s first acquisition this year and the 12th in the its history.

Alliant Wealth Advisors has offices in Manassas and Reston. Savant has an existing office in McLean, Virginia.

“The partnership with Alliant Wealth Advisors marks an early step in Savant’s five-year growth plan, which includes not only organic growth, but also an accelerated pace of mergers and acquisitions transactions,” the firm said in a statement

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.

Earlier this year, Savant announced that it was strengthening its advisory leadership team and recruiting for several other key roles, including a head of M&A to enhance new partner optimization soon.

“Savant has been positioning itself for exponential growth since last year, when we received a strategic minority investment from Kelso & Company,” said Brent R Brodeski, founder and CEO of Savant, said. “Instead of having to bootstrap each year to achieve our growth goals, we are now investing in technology, marketing, practice management, and top-tier talent, like the excellent team from Alliant Wealth Advisors,” he added.

“Our firms have a lot in common,” John Frisch, president of Alliant Wealth Advisors, said. “In addition to being committed to a fee-only, fiduciary standard of care for clients, both our firms share a ‘planning first’ mindset. Some firms tend to focus primarily on investments, but we realize that investments are just one component of our clients’ total financial wellbeing.”

Frisch and senior advisor Jeff Schatz will become member-owners in Savant. Alliant Wealth Advisors also includes a Qualified Plans division, which works with employers to develop retirement plan benefits and provides resources to help companies educate workers about their retirement plans. Alliant’s Qualified Plans division will become a part of Savant’s Retirement Plan Services division, Savant said.

Based in Rockford, Illinois, Savant has offices across the US.