RBC Wealth Management-U.S. has acquired the correspondent clearing and custody business of Mesirow Financial—50 brokerage and RIA firms with about $3.5 billion in assets under administration.
RBC announced the deal today; details were not disclosed. Ninety percent of the firms that are coming over are broker/dealers for the RBC Correspondent Services unit, while the rest are RIAs for its RBC Advisor Services unit. The Minneapolis-based subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada says the deal makes it the sixth-largest clearing firm in the industry as rated by broker/dealer clients. The deal closed March 2.
A Mesirow spokeswoman said the company sold the business because it wasn’t core to its operations. Mesirow will continue to self-clear at its Investment Advisor Group, which has $3.7 billion in assets under management.
RBC Advisor Services acquired J.P. Morgan's Investment Advisor Servicing business in June 2010.
RBC Wealth Management-U.S. has about 2,000 financial advisors and $220 billion in AUA.