Allworth Financial, the Folsom, Calif.-based registered investment advisor with more than $19 billion in assets under advisement, has acquired Brennan Asset Management Group, a Redding, Calif.-based RIA with $300 million in assets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brennan Asset Management Group represents Allworth’s 34th acquisition, bringing it to 41 offices in 20 states. As of January 2024, Allworth had 400 employees, including 120 advisors, and 24,000 clients.
Robert Brennan, the firm’s founder and CEO, said he conducted an exhaustive search for the right partner and landed on Allworth. The firm will help him scale back his operational responsibilities and focus on serving clients, he said.
Brennan started in the industry in 1986 with First Affiliated Securities. He then moved his book to Cetera Advisor Networks, where he was affiliated for 30 years. In 2018, he joined LPL Financial’s brokerage and RIA platform.
Bob Brennan
This is Allworth’s third deal this year, following the acquisitions of Tridea Advisors, another California RIA with $341 million in assets, and Capital Point Financial Group, a Glenview, Ill.- and Sarasota, Fla.-based firm with $280 million in assets. The RIA completed seven deals in 2023.
When Allworth acquires an RIA, those firms typically come under the Allworth brand, and the deals are structured as a combination of cash and equity. Owners will typically get about 20% to 30% in equity, and the rest in cash. Some 110 advisors currently own equity in the firm.
Allworth’s co-founders Scott Hanson and Pat McClain announced plans over the summer to step down from their roles as co-CEOs of the RIA “as part of a natural succession plan.” The firm hired John Bunch, a former Edelman Financial Engines executive, who took on the chief executive role Nov. 6.