Mercer Global Advisors, one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisors, announced yet another Central U.S. acquisition this week, adding approximately 1,100 clients and $1.1 billion in assets under management and advisement with Portage, Mich.–based RIA Sanford Advisory Services.
“We knew we were at an inflection point in our business and needed to build the scale to support our significant growth or join a firm that already had it,” said Todd Sanford, who founded the RIA in 2000, in a statement. “It was clear we shared the same mission, vision, and values and that was the most important thing to us along with providing career development opportunity to our fantastic staff,” he added, referring to his talks with Mercer’s head of mergers and acquisitions David Barton.
Partners Scott Williams and Brent Kerstetter, along with the rest of Sanford’s 10-person team, will also be joining Mercer.
“The fact that Mercer Advisors has in-house estate planning services and a full legal team, as well as providing in-house tax return preparation services along with highly desirable corporate trustee capabilities will allow us to bring enhanced offerings to our valued clientele,” Kerstetter said.
The acquisition is Mercer Global Advisors’ fifth in 2022, following 12 in 2021 and 13 in 2020. Headquartered in Denver under parent company Mercer Advisors LLC, the actively growing RIA is majority owned by private equity firms Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital. Mercer currently claims over $38 billion in client assets, more than 670 employees and more than 60 offices nationwide.
The news follows Mercer’s acquisition of Missouri-based HYA advisors, which has about $1 billion in assets, earlier this week.
“We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Michigan,” said Mercer CEO Dave Welling, “and look forward to working together to deliver meaningful results for our shared clients.”