Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation’s most prolific acquirers of registered investment advisory firms, has picked up a firm in Cape Cod, Mass., managing around $236 million for some 360 clients.
The team from Asset Management Resources, led by founder J. Christopher Boyd, includes six advisors, and is focused on serving individuals at or near retirement.
In a statement, Boyd cited the “benefits and depth of scale” offered by WEG, “one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing registered investment advisor firms."
With 15 deals announced and another three the firm says are expected, 2023 stands as the second-most active in WEG’s history after a total of 19 deals in 2021, according to its count.
The only other acquirer that comes close in deal volume is Mercer Advisors, which picked up 19 or 20 advisory firms last year (depending on counts from either DeVoe and Company or Echelon Partners) and 16 in 2021. Based on quarterly tracking data this year, Mercer was at seven deals by the end of September and WEG was at nine.
Founded in 1997, WEG has expanded exponentially in recent years. Since selling a majority stake to Lightyear Capital in 2015, the firm has grown assets from around $4 billion to more than $71.7 billion.
WEG had grown to nearly $12 billion by the time TA Associates bought out Lightyear’s investment in 2019. When Onex Partners came on board as a majority owner in 2021, the firm was managing close to $40 billion.
According to WEG Chief Investments and Business Development Officer Jim Cahn, the RIA's growth is attributable to the rapid pace of private equity-supported acquisitions, some of which represented multiple billions in managed assets, combined with a marketing-driven, annual organic growth rate of close to 9%.
Speaking in May at a DeVoe and Company conference in Nashville, Cahn said he anticipated adding a total of $20 billion in assets this year—half through acquisitions and half though organic growth—as WEG nears $100 billion.
(The 15 deals already announced by the firm added around $6.1 billion in assets.)
“If we do that pretty consistently, in four or five years from now we’ll be at $150 billion—and still be small,” he said. “We don't really have to do anything to get to $100 billion. . . If we didn't do another transaction, just between the market and flows we'd be at $100 billion in three to four years.”
Minneapolis-based Wealth Enhancement Group now has around 100 offices nationwide, primarily located in the upper Midwest and along both coasts—with close to 450 advisors providing tax, trust and business owner consultation alongside a broad menu of wealth management services for more than 55,000 households and businesses.