A New Hampshire-based RIA with $1.6 billion in managed assets is joining New England Private Wealth Advisors, an Aspen Standard-backed Boston-based firm.
With the acquisition of DHK Financial Advisors, NEPWA will manage nearly $5 billion in assets. According to DHK President and Chief Investment Officer Tim Dempsey, “NEPWA is exactly the firm we’ve been looking for” to help the team’s growth prospects.
DHK was founded in 1993 and is based in Portsmouth, N.H. It offers investment management services for over 70 clients and acts as an outsourced chief investment officer for institutions, including charitable organizations, endowments, foundations and retirement plans.
NEPWA was founded in 2005 and is a fee-only RIA led by founder and CEO Ira Rapaport. The firm works with high-net-worth clients and institutions, offering investment services, as well as income tax, estate, college, retirement and insurance planning. (Clients custody assets at Charles Schwab and Fidelity.)
According to Rapaport, NEPWA is expanding its capabilities for servicing institutional clients, working with about 15 institutions with assets totaling over $500 million (in many cases, dealing with board members personally).
“The DHK transaction will allow us to expand our institutional services in identifying new opportunities in this space,” he said. “In addition, it will provide opportunities to introduce our private client services to new board members. We are confident that our combined firms are strategically positioned to benefit from future growth opportunities.”
In April, Aspen Standard, a newly established holding company taking majority stakes in RIAs, acquired NEPWA. It was Aspen’s second acquisition since launching; the first was last November, when Aspen purchased Summitry, a San Francisco-based $2.8 billion RIA.
As part of the deal, NEPWA kept its Form ADV, but accessed Aspen’s back office, marketing and compliance resources and can use the company’s recruiting functions.
According to Aspen founder and CEO Aly Kassim-Lakha, Aspen-acquired firms retain their brands, client services, delivery models, investment philosophies and cultures. Aspen’s RIAs get equity in the firm, and can decide in the future to liquidate their stake or buy more equity.
Kassim-Lakha was previously a private equity investor and worked at Advent International. Aspen is backed by private equity funding from Alpine Investors and has a staff of about 15. In a previous interview with WealthManagement.com, Kassim-Lakha said that Aspen was “a permanent home” for the RIAs it purchased.
“We partner with businesses, and we therefore have no intention of selling,” he said. “We hold them in perpetuity.”
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