Cresset Asset Management, the fast-growing wealth manager headquartered in Chicago, acquired its second registered investment advisory firm managing over $500 million this year.
The company said Wednesday that it acquired Cypress Wealth Advisors, an independent RIA in San Francisco that managed more than $575 million for 170 high-net-worth clients. Barbara Young, the founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Cypress, will join Cresset along with the entire team from her firm, according to a statement from the company. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Cresset is client-focused as a privately held and client- and employee-owned firm," Young said in a statement. "We could not imagine a better partner to serve our clients going forward. I am excited about the tremendous opportunities we have to grow with Cresset over the long term.”
The deal with Cypress comes shortly after Cresset's March acquisition of Evanston Advisors, an RIA based in the Chicago area with more than $500 million in client assets.
Cresset was founded by Eric Becker and Avy Stein in 2017 to serve the wealthiest clients and family offices and now has more than $4.5 billion in assets under management.
In addition to garnering clients and their assets, the firm has also been on a hiring spree since its founding. Cresset has hired more than 60 employees across business segments: Cresset Wealth Advisors, Cresset Family Office and Cresset Partners, its private investing arm.
Among the recruits have been a handful of Abbot Downing employees and Bill Rudnick, a third-generation partner at law firm DLA Piper, to be the company's general counsel.
Cresset also hired Michael Cole, the founder and president of U.S. Bank’s Ascent Private Capital Management, to lead Cresset Family Office. Since then, U.S. Bank has filed a civil complaint alleging a prominent former executive—the head of its advisory business that caters to the richest clientele—stole trade secrets and breached his contract by poaching employees to join him at Cresset.
