Waverly Advisors Acquires Derbend Asset Management

Waverly Advisors has acquired Derbend Asset Management, a Georgia-based investment advisory firm, marking its fourth acquisition in 2024. The acquisition increases Waverly’s AUM to about $11.9 billion.

Derbend was founded in 2002 by Chip Beard. His partner, Brian Chustz, joined in 2019, and together they have grown the firm’s AUM to approximately $310 million. Chip and Brian will be joined by their entire team at Waverly and will become the firm’s 20th office location.

Beard began his career as a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch in 1983, where he managed a branch office through the market tumult of October 1987. In 1990, he transitioned to venture capital by purchasing and later selling a software company, Graphic Data Analysis, in Athens, Georgia. He then joined The Habersham Group, a private equity investment firm, establishing offices in Brussels and Lausanne, and overseeing venture capital and private equity projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Returning to the U.S. in 2000, Chip worked as a global strategist for Invesco in Atlanta. In 2002, he founded Derbend Asset Management in Peachtree City, Georgia. The financial and legal specifics of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

To view the press release, click here.