RIA Edge

Pradeep Jayaraman, former co-head of partnerships and business development at Focus Financial, hopes to build on Bluespring’s mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Mesirow continues to grow its wealth management headcount with the addition of Price Wealth Management. The firm will expand further in the Southeast via lift-ins and acquisitions.

Benchmark Wealth Management will join the large RIA, which continues to focus on inorganic growth after expanding its M&A executive team earlier this year.

Advisory firms grew 5.7% last year, according to a new study by The Ensemble Practice. It’s a wakeup call for firms to make marketing a vital function.

Once the deal closes later this year, the combined RIA will have $32 billion in assets under management.

Minneapolis-based advisor Denver Gilliand has left Hightower to start his own RIA, among other new launches this week.

Javier Altimari, a former senior director and portfolio manager at Oppenheimer & Co., will be instrumental in building out Americana Partners International, the RIA’s new division serving international UHNW clients.