Cresset is acquiring a Michigan-based multi-family office with about $1.6 billion in managed assets. The deal will bring Cresset’s total managed assets to more than $52 billion.
The Connable Office was founded as a single-family office in the late 1800s and is one of the country’s oldest family offices. It has worked with seven generations of the founding family and branched out to others throughout the country. Loyal Eldridge III, Kenneth Larason, James Melvin and Bradley Weller lead the firm.
Cresset Co-Founder Eric Becker said the two firms were “an outstanding cultural fit.”
“We are the powerful combination of a firm with a 100+ year legacy and one that has been built for the next 100 years,” Becker said about the deal.
The acquisition will scale up Cresset’s existing trust administration services while allowing Connable’s family clients to access Cresset’s private investment program, family governance and education programs and concierge services, among other attributes.
Republic Capital Group served as the deal’s financial advisor, and Alston & Bird LLP was onboard as Connable’s legal counsel.
The deal comes several months after Liz Nesvold resigned as Cresset’s president. Nine months earlier, Nesvold stepped into the newly created role but left because, according to industry sources, she felt limited and was frustrated with shifting mandates at the RIA. In February, Nesvold landed at Emigrant Bank as a vice chair.
After Nesvold took over, Cresset continued to expand, including acquiring a $1.7 billion RIA to form its sports and entertainment unit. The firm also withdrew from the Broker Protocol at the start of 2024 in an abrupt about-face after joining it in 2023. Also, it confirmed it was seeking a minority investor to boost capital for more acquisitions and recruitment.
Last month, Cresset poached a pair of San Francisco-based advisory teams with assets under management totaling more than $5 billion. The teams originally came from J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. However, JPMorgan acquired both when it acquired First Republic’s wealth unit in the wake of the regional bank’s collapse in 2023.
Cresset is based in Chicago and was founded in 2017 as a family office for founders Eric Becker and Avy Stein. However, the firm expanded to include wealth management for ultra-wealthy families and grew to $9.5 billion in assets within three years.
It includes a family office, a wealth management platform (including the aforementioned sports and entertainment division), and a trust company and investment management unit.