Merchant Takes Stake in Valuation Firm
Merchant Investment Management, a New York City-based investment firm that provides growth capital and other support to independent financial services firms, is adding valuation services for registered investment advisors in and out of its network via an investment stake.
Merchant has invested an undisclosed amount in Columbus, Ohio-based WR Valuation, a business valuation services firm for the underlying client business owners of RIAs.
According to the announcement, the 12-person team from WR Valuation will offer “rigorous analysis to companies of all sizes,” leveraging their experience doing valuations for 37 publicly listed companies. The firm specializes in transactional valuations, estate and gift tax appraisals, insurance, ESOPs and succession planning.
“Valuation is often a missing piece in the advisor-client relationship,” Robert Stutz, senior managing partner at WR Valuation, said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Merchant-backed Fin.Link, a platform for wealth managers, announced it was working with investment bank Republic Capital Group to offer advisors valuations of their practices.
Tim Bello, co-founder and managing partner at Merchant, called the WR Valuation acquisition “a natural continuation of what we began when partnering with Republic Capital Group,” and said its services would not just be for Merchant-partnered firms, but “the entire independent wealth management marketplace.”
Family Teams from UBS Move to Ameriprise’s Q5 Wealth Management
Two family teams have left UBS Financial Services to join an Ameriprise Financial affiliate.
Chuck Heare, son Ross Heare, Tommy Goth, and daughter Jennifer Goth-Castillo have joined Q5 Wealth Management based in Beaumont, Texas. The family teams reported having managed over $480 million in client assets at UBS.
Q5 was also a UBS practice before moving over to Ameriprise last year. The advisory is led by managing partners Omar Bitar, Jeremy Saba, Mike Persia, son Ed Persia and Brad Klein.
“We were looking for a firm and team that prioritizes clients above all else and is not encumbered by the traditional Wall Street investment bank or wirehouse culture,” Ross Heare said in a statement.
Since joining Ameriprise, Q5 has added advisors from Morgan Stanley and LPL. With the addition of the Hear and Goth teams, it will have 11 advisors and seven support staff managing about $1.9 billion in client assets.
“The ability to easily employ support staff was also a big draw for us,” Tommy Goth added. “We now have the autonomy to build a team and service model that’s tailored to our clients’ needs—allowing us to deliver a more consistent and efficient client experience.”
Minneapolis-based Ameriprise Financial has over 10,000 financial advisors in its network.
The broker/dealer is in a legal fight with LPL Financial over allegations that advisors who left Ameriprise for the competitor stole client information.
Father and Sons Team Leaves Osaic for Cetera
Cetera, another San Diego-based broker/dealer with about 12,000 financial advisors, has brought over a father and sons team, Ironwood Family Wealth Advisors, from competitor Osaic.
Founder Torsten “Tor” Saile and his sons Tyler Saile and Tanner Saile managed about $158 million in client assets for Osaic. The group is now with Cetera Investors, affiliated with the Cetera RIA and Branches channel.
Tor Saile founded Ironwood Family Wealth Advisors about 30 years ago; Tyler joined in 2018, and Tanner took an operational and administrative assistant role in 2019. According to the announcement, they moved to Cetera to prepare “the firm for future growth” and “Tyler and Tanner for leadership.”
Cetera manages about $590 billion in assets under administration and $263 billion in AUM.
LPL Adds Lincoln Advisor Who Managed About $180M in Client Assets
LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker/dealer, has snagged a financial advisor who had been overseeing $180 million in client assets at Lincoln Investment.
Kevin Gallagher will join LPL’s broker/dealer, RIA and custodial platform from his base in Brookeville, Md. Many of his clients are former or current federal employees or military members.
Gallagher had served in the U.S. Marines before becoming a trader in 1997. His Gallagher Wealth Management Team includes U.S. Army veteran and advisor James Horris, Brandon Hsia, Leslie Weigand, and a support staff. Gallagher and team were looking for “more autonomy, flexibility and a more robust technology platform.”
“Everything LPL offers—including the fact that they are self-clearing—will make it easier for us to run our business more efficiently and spend more time with our clients,” he said in a statement.
San Diego-based LPL has just under 29,000 financial advisors servicing and custodying about $1.7 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets.
NewEdge Brings on Ex-Stifel Team in Nebraska
NewEdge Advisors, a New Orleans-based RIA overseeing more than $27 billion in client assets, according to its latest Form ADV, has brought on newly independent RIA Cleartrek Wealth Partners, a Lincoln, Neb.-based advisory with about $650 million in client assets.
Founders Loy Olson, Matt Olson, Mike Todd and Mitch Bergen were previously with broker/dealer Stifel Financial. The seven-member team left to form Cleartrek, which will use Goldman Sachs as its primary custodian.
The acquisition expands NewEdge’s footprint in Nebraska; the RIA operates in 39 states and is part of New Edge Capital Group, a financial technology firm with about $65 billion in assets across its subsidiaries.
Bluespring Acquires Dallas-Based Firm Affiliated with Parent Kestra
Bluespring Wealth Partners, an Austin, Texas-based RIA owned by parent firm Kestra Holdings, has acquired Kestra Financial-affiliated Halcyon Wealth Advisors.
Halcyon has about $364 million in AUM and will merge into Bluespring firm LifeBridge Financial Group. LifeBridge Financial had folded in Bluespring’s SilverStar Wealth Management earlier this year to create a $1.4 billion firm.
Halycon is based in Irving, Texas, and is led by Lynn Clark, owner and financial planner, and Carolyn Mora, director of retirement plan services and private wealth management.
“By joining forces with LifeBridge, we’re expanding our ability to deliver deeply personalized financial guidance while gaining access to broader resources and expertise,” Clark said in a statement.
With the additional firm, Houston-based LifeBridge expands further into Dallas-Fort Worth, with offices in Waco, Houston, Irving and Cypress.
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