Just two years after taking on private equity backers, Waverly Advisors has completed a dozen deals and grown assets by more than 200%. Meanwhile, Moneta has grown to $34 billion with its first deal since April and Kestra announced an Ameriprise team managing more than $300 million joined its platform in 2023.
In news reported this week:
- Mercer picked up a $2.5 billion Seattle firm;
- Integrated attracted an Ameriprise group with $185 million;
- MAI, Beacon Pointe and Perigon all announced acquisitions;
- Modern Wealth seeded an in-house retirement plan division with a $1.2 billion purchase in Western New York;
- A father/son team broke away from a Penn Mutual broker/dealer to launch a $750 million RIA;
- Bluespring combined two partner firms to create a Florida hub with $1.4 billion;
- A nascent tech-forward RIA platform called Compound Planning has already onboarded 15 new advisors in 2024
- XYPN’s corporate RIA launched its pilot program with six advisors;
- Sanctuary added a $1 billion breakaway from Stifel;
- And, a trio of three female partners unveiled a Chicago RIA with an in-house psychologist on International Women’s Day.
In talent news this week, Abby Salameh left CAIS to lead growth at RFG Advisory and Brian Price was officially named CEO of the wealth management unit at Mesirow.
A Dozen Deals Bring Waverly to More Than $10B
Waverly Advisors, a registered investment advisor based in Birmingham, Ala., has surpassed $10 billion in client assets after taking on private equity investors Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC and embarking on an inorganic growth strategy in December 2021.
At the time, Waverly was managing close to $3.5 billion. At the end of 2022, the firm had grown to $5.5 billion. With a dozen acquisitions now under its belt, the firm reported reaching $10.6 billion in cumulative assets on March 1.
Most recently, Waverly announced it bought EFP Advisors in Jackson, Miss. EFP represents Waverly’s second deal of 2024 and expands the firm’s presence in Jackson, Miss., which was established via another acquisition last year.
Founded in 2012 by Doug McDaniel and Chris Register, EFP comprises two affiliated companies—McDaniel & Register Financial Advisors, owned by McDaniel and Register, and W.O. Stone Advisors, owned by Bill Stone. Both are joining Waverly, increasing firm assets by about $250 million.
“Joining Waverly brings enormous growth potential,” McDaniel said in a statement. “Our clients will have access to additional resources and infrastructure while still enjoying a boutique and personalized approach to comprehensive financial planning and wealth management.”
Founded in 1999, Waverly is led by CEO Josh Reidinger and has more than 150 staff members, including 60 advisors, scattered across 18 offices in the Southeast, Midwest, Texas and Colorado.
Third Colorado Merger Brings Moneta to Boulder
St. Louis-based Moneta, a partner-owned RIA managing more than $30 billion for several thousand clients, has added a two-person team from Wells Fargo.
Previously operating as Juniper Wealth Advisors, Amy Hiatt and Mike Walsh have joined the firm as partners with approximately $279 million in assets, bringing Moneta to around $34 billion in total client assets.
It is the third Colorado merger in the firm’s history and its second since April. The team will continue to work from an office in Boulder, Colo., establishing Moneta’s sixth office, and will have use of office space in Moneta’s Denver location.
“This move is about positioning our clients and our firm for a more successful future,” Walsh said in a statement, citing “large-scale resources” that include administrative and operations support.
“Partnering with Moneta will allow us to expand our existing financial planning and investment management offerings to include philanthropic initiatives, tax planning, estate strategy, regulatory compliance, cyber security, and human resources,” added Hiatt.
Moneta, which has offered financial planning services since 1933, inhabited a single office until launching a national growth strategy in 2019 with the announcement it was expanding to a new location in Denver’s Cherry Creek area. That was quickly followed by the firm’s first acquisition. Moneta now has offices in Denver, Kansas City, Boston and Chicago, as well as St. Louis and now Boulder.
“Moneta’s partnership structure means they have ownership and a voice in the strategic decisions of the firm coupled with access to a team of colleagues with highly valuable institutional knowledge,” noted President and CEO Keith Bowles.
In its last ADV filing almost a year ago, Moneta reported serving 6,547 individuals, 224 retirement plans, 102 charities and corporations, and a handful of banks with a collective $30.6 billion under management.
Kestra Financial Attracts Ameriprise Team with $300M
Austin, Tex.-based Kestra Financial, a subsidiary of Kestra Holdings with two corporate RIAs managing more than $55 billion and a brokerage division, captured a seven-person team in Atlanta from Ameriprise in 2023.
Partners Todd Mitman and Jeremy Reese founded Element Wealth Advisors on the Ameriprise platform in 2006 and transitioned to Kestra for more autonomy and expanded investment options, according to an announcement. The team managed around $306 million, according to Forbes.
They were joined in the move by Lead Servicing Advisor Ann Dickerson, a director of operations and three client services associates. Element has since added another advisor and a financial planning assistant to the team.
“Kestra Financial's capabilities enable us to elevate our service offering and enhance our ability to provide personalized guidance tailored to our client’s unique goals and needs,” Reese said in a statement, calling the move “a natural decision."
Kestra Financial was overseeing $103 billion in client assets across four entities at the end of 2022, about half of which was under management. That was before Kestra sold off subsidiary Grove Point Financial—along with about $15 billion in assets—to Atria Wealth Solutions in 2023.
Kestra Holdings is majority owned by Warburg Pincus and includes acquisition-focused RIA Bluespring Wealth Partners and Arden Trust Company.