Savant Wealth Management is acquiring a fee-only Minnesota RIA with over $1.2 billion in managed assets, marking the Rockford, Ill.-based firm’s first Minnesota acquisition and fourth deal this year.
PrairieView Partners, founded in 2008, is based in St. Paul, Minn., and offers wealth planning services for individuals, trusts and estates, charitable organizations and small businesses.
According to Savant, PrairieView’s partner team, including Matt Weier, Paula Price, Kristy Schaffer, Jonathan Jaranson and Bo Aylin, the firm’s chief compliance officer, will join the RIA as member-owners. Additionally, senior wealth manager Luke Murray will be a Savant member-owner. Fifteen of PrairieView’s 19 employees will join the wealth management business, while the remaining four will join Savant Tax & Consulting.
According to Weier, the team decided to merge with a larger RIA to expand its operational and growth capabilities and add services like wealth transfer to its arsenal. Weier said the firm opted for Savant based on shared Midwestern roots, an “evidence-based investment philosophy” and a commitment to tax-focused wealth management.
“But even more important to us is Savant’s ownership structure,” he said. “We are excited to join a majority employee-owned firm where we, our team and clients can benefit from a long-term vision.”
The deal closed on Aug. 31, and its terms weren’t disclosed. M&A matchmaker Alaris Acquisitions worked with PraireView and Savant to finalize the deal.
Savant is a fee-only firm that has been in business for over 30 years and manages about $33 billion in client assets. Its services include investment management, financial planning, retirement plans and family office needs (as well as accounting, tax prep, payroll and consulting through Savant Tax & Consulting).
During June’s Wealth Management EDGE Conference in Boca Raton, Fla., Savant CEO Brent Brodeski described the highs and lows of the company, which he co-founded in 1992.
Brodeski described his realization about eight years ago that the business was “wildly dysfunctional,” with a co-founder who wouldn’t speak to him, a “horrible” board and a partner who tried to be a peacemaker but demurred on big decisions.
In 2016, Brodeski took the initiative, raising over $50 million through outside capital and employee investments to create a new capital structure. Now, nearly a third of Savant’s employees are also owners, which he sees as a sustainable path for the decades ahead.
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