Chicago-based RIA Cresset Asset Management has announced its first deal since bringing on longtime investment banker Liz Nesvold as president. Cresset has merged with TRUE Capital Management, a San Francisco-based RIA managing $1.7 billion on behalf of high-profile clients in the sports and entertainment industries.
The merger creates a multi-family office with nearly $33 billion in assets under management and 19 offices around the country.
The deal expands Cresset’s presence in the sports and entertainment industries, as TRUE brings more than 350 clients, including Deandre Ayton, Robert Griffin III, Marshawn Lynch, Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Albert Pujols, Logan Ryan, Richard Sherman, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi.
For TRUE, the merger brings greater scale and a national footprint. The firm will have access to Cresset’s family office services, goals-based financial planning, private investments and lifestyle services. The firm will operate as TRUE Cresset | Sports + Entertainment.
TRUE was founded in 2007, and the firm offers alternative investments, including venture capital, managed real estate, hedge/options, private debt and impact investing.
"Since we started TRUE in 2007, our priority has been to build relationships with our clients based on transparency and trust as they navigate the rare opportunities and unique challenges that come with wealth,” said Doug Raetz, CEO of TRUE, in a statement. “That commitment will only be strengthened and enhanced with Cresset.”
Raetz will serve as co-president of TRUE Cresset, along with Heather Goodman, former COO of TRUE.
Last week, Cresset announced the addition of Nesvold as its first president. In the newly created role, she’ll manage more than just the firm's acquisition strategy. In collaboration with co-founders Eric Becker and Avy Stein, she will work to more fully integrate existing entities in addition to overseeing the firm's overall strategy, platform and family office service model.
Nesvold, 55, joins the firm following four years helming the asset and wealth management unit at Raymond James Investment Bank, which acquired the 12-year-old firm she founded and ran with her husband, Silver Lane Advisors, in 2019. Prior to Silver Lane, Nesvold spent 15 years with Berkshire Global Advisors.
In recent weeks, Cresset has recruited a number of advisors from First Republic’s wealth management unit, in the wake of the bank’s troubles.