February 17, 2023
The New Year hangover continued into the second half of January as FA movement remained below the higher pace we saw this time last year. There are a few factors why:
RIA acquisitions were very active during the period among the acquirers we are used to seeing with Cerity and First Republic Bank with some large additions worth noting.
Matt B. Irwin who manages $160 M AUM in Dallas, TX has joined LPL. He is joining the dually registered RIA/ BD platform and was previously with Ameriprise.
David J. Dobrusin based in Sun City, AZ with $200 M AUM has joined LPLs dual RIA/BD platform. He will maintain the name of Dobrusin Financial and was previously with Cambridge
Chris Corcoran in Houston, TX managing $130 M AUM has joined the Linsco LPL platform. He is the first anchor for Linsco in the Houston office.
Eric Yamin and Keith Caparelli based in Garden City, NY ( and in Miami, FL) with $700 M AUM have joined First Republic Bank. The Yamin-Caparelli focuses on families with a $20 million minimum and have been named to the Forbes Best in State list. They were previously with Morgan Stanley.
Brenda Travaglini, Michael Corcoran, Dennis Murray and Dan Gallagher (no official team name) who collectively manage $1.8 B AUM based in Boston, MA have all joined First Republic Bank. The maintained the team status as they departed BNY Mellon Wealth.
Another large team has joined Frist Republic, also in Boston, MA. Derek Mohamed and Justin Merola who manage $850 M AUM have joined FRB. Additional team members Stephen Greene, Brian Kelleher, Leland Mindnich also made the move collectively as they departed Merrill Lynch. They are ranked on the Forbes Best in Sate list for 2022.
Ladage, Smith, Garcia Wealth Partners (FAs Alex Ladage, David Landon Smith and Jorge Garcia) based in Austin, TX and manage $900 M AUM have joined Rockefeller Capital Management. This an important addition as Austin continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
Cedarwood Financial Partners led by Dylan Ripley and Todd Vincent, in Temple, TX have joined Commonwealth Financial Network. The Team has a total of nine members and were previously with Edward Jones. They viewed practice ownership as being their focus of the move.
Core Financial Group, led by Michael Critchfield and Matthew DiGiacomo who manage $230 M AUM in Yuba City, CA have joined Commonwealth. They were previously with Woodbury/Advisor Group.
UBS continues to build out their international client capabilities here in the US. Guillermo Eiben, Emiliano Mendez and Stan Babakhanov have all joined UBS in New York, NY. They join from Morgan Stanley and will continue to focus on Latin America based clients.
The Sacharko Siana Group led by David Sacharko and Sean Siana based in Hartford, CT and manage $340 M AUM have joined UBS. They were previously with Merrill Lynch.
Jeffrey M. Klinger and Bradley Quan who manage $1B AUM in San Francisco, CA have joined UBS. Out of the wires, UBS has been mentioned to continue their attractive recruiting deals. The Team departed Merrill Lynch.
The Karstaedt Group which includes Marc Karstaedt, Daniel Zomback, Parker H. Jaques and Raymond Lin, all based in New York, NY managing $400 M AUM. Has joined JP Morgan Advisors. The Team had been with Merrill Lynch.
Not a traditional RIA/BD acquisition, Focus Financial is backing the merger of real estate alts manager Origin Holding Company and Kovitz Investment Group. This will strengthen Kovitz’s overall capabilities in the alternatives category which continues to see demand from investors. Both firms are based in Chicago, IL.
Securian Financial’s broker-dealer, registered investment advisor and insurance agency are all being acquired by Cetera. The deal amounts to $25 B AUM and most of acquisition will be re-branded under Cetera. The Trust company of Securian will operate as a standalone under Cetera.
Earth Equity Advisors based in Asheville; NC led by Peter Krull has been purchased by PCIA. For PCIA, this brings in a $150 M firm that focuses solely on clients who are environment impact focused via their investment choices. They also run multiple model portfolios.
Parallel Advisors led by C.J. Rendic based in San Francisco, CA with $4.8 B AUM has been purchased by Golden Gate Capital. Concurrently, Autus Asset Management who manages $900 M AUM in Scottsdale, AZ also was purchased by Golden Gate Capital. The connection is that both Parallel and Autus were back originally by Emigrant Partners. Emigrant has been exiting and monetizing their RIA stakes over the last few years. This is the first RIA that Golden Gate has purchased as their portfolio includes other credit and consumer names.
Fiori Financial Group, a new RIA has launched in Ft. Lauderdale, FL with $500 M AUM. Led by Margaux Fiori & Scott Verlangieri, they have been named to the Forbes best in State list and will continue to focus on clients with a $2.5M minimum. They will be clearing via Goldman Sachs custody platform and were previously with Raymond James.
Cribstone Capital Management LLC based in Augusta, ME led by Scott Upham and Jeff Burch with $360M AUM has been purchased by Torrance, CA based EP Wealth. EP continues to expand beyond their west coast geography and is the sixth acquisition over the past year.
RiverStone Wealth Management managing $230 M AUM based in Wexford, PA led by Wes Creese has been purchased by Carnegie Investment Counsel. This was a strategic purchase for Carnegie as they expand their Pittsburgh area presence and brings their asset to over $3.8 B AUM.
Empyrion Wealth Management based in Rosehill, CA with $250 M AUM has been purchased by Mercer Global Advisors (PE backed). Led by Kimberly Foss, the Team focuses on women and family stewards, and Kimberly is a regular guest of Invest in Women conference. Mercer continues to be acquisitive and is now over $47 B AUM.
Ashfield Capital Partners based in San Francisco, CA led by Peter Johnson managing $1.9 B AUM was purchase by Cerity Partners (PE backed). Cerity has been active in the Bay area due to the constant new wealth creation and resulting asset growth opportunity.
Another Cerity acquisition took place as they purchased Maryland Capital Management based in Townson, MD with $1.9 B AUM outside of Baltimore.
The last Cerity acquisition during the month was ARGI Financial based in Louisville, KY who manages $4.8 B AUM, which is the largest since it received PE backing. ARGI is ranked on the Barron’s top RIAs list. Cerity will add an additional 250 employees post acquisition, and ARGI will take on the Cerity Partners branding.
Colorado Financial Management led by Brad Bickham in Boulder, CO managing $2 B AUM has been purchase by Lido Advisors (PE backed) out of Los Angeles. All 26 employees will be making the transition to Lido.
TrustCore Financial Services an RIA based in Nashville, TN managing $2.3 B AUM was acquired by CapTrust. TrustCore is bringing 16 new FAs on board to CapTrust post acquisition and was a key acquisition for CapTrust to establish a presence in the Nashville market. This will be CapTrust’s 63rd acquisition.
Sommers Financial led by Matt Regan based in Tucson, AZ managing $100 M AUM has been purchase by Wealthcare Advisors. Post-acquisition, Wealthcare’s assets will be over $5 B AUM.
Cooper Lapman Financial which includes Miriam “Mimmy” Cooper, Mark Lapman, Lauren Ledger and Trey Tremblay in Boston, MA managing $340 M AUM has been purchased by the Colony Group, also Boston based. Colony’s AUM will be over $20 B AUM post acquisition.
Convergent Financial Strategies led by Alan M. Schapire based in Plymouth Meeting, PA was acquired by Buckingham Strategic Wealth (a Focus Financial firm).
Capital Defender Advisors, a new team brand with $500 M AUM based in Tampa, FL has been purchased by Bison Wealth (backed by owners of Buffalo Bills) FAs : Ray Hansen and Elio Chiarelli were previously with Kidder Advisers, and Brian McGinnis at Pacific Financial Group. The Team focuses on first responders as their clients, and many staff members were previously in law enforcement. They will brand as Capital Defender Wealth under the Bison Wealth RIA.
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Gui Costin is the Founder and CEO of Dakota.
