Legacy One Financial Advisors, a Merchant Investment Management–backed registered investment advisor in Austin, Texas, is merging with the RIA unit of U.S. Capital Advisors, a hybrid firm headquartered in Houston. The combined entity will operate as U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors and manage $5.6 billion in client assets.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed, although a spokesperson for USCA said there was a capital transaction among the parties. Merchant, which took a minority stake in Legacy One in 2017, introduced the two RIAs and supported the transaction.
Together with U.S. Capital Advisors’ brokerage division and other related entities, the firm will manage almost $9 billion in assets. Post-deal, the combined firm will have 95 employees: 24 from Legacy One and 71 from USCA RIA.
Legacy One was founded by managing partners Kevin Lange and Bert Foster in 2017. The RIA has additional offices in Georgetown, Texas, and New York.
USCA was founded in 2010 by CEO and managing partner Patrick Mendenhall, a former UBS branch office manager who stepped down from UBS after 19 years to start the firm. Once established, Mendenhall then lured top-producing advisors away from his old workplace. As an example, he recruited a duo that managed $1 billion at UBS months after his departure. The following year, he added a team managing $350 million from the b/d Sanders Morris Harris. Within 10 months, the firm had $2 billion in AUM.
Mendenhall and Jim Fortescue, Legacy One's managing partner, will be managing partners of USCWA. USCA will provide brokerage services and alternative investments to USCWA.