Canadian RIA acquirer CI Financial has announced its latest deal, this time acquiring Gofen and Glossberg, a Chicago-based wealth management firm with $7.5 billion in client assets.
Terms of the deal, expected to close later this year, were not disclosed.
Gofen, which was founded in 1932, is led by James Borovsky, Charles Gofen, Peter Kupferberg and Michael Stelmacki. The firm takes a white-glove approach to serving its clients, primarily high-net-worth families, providing customized investment portfolios and planning services.
“As a firm with a history of 90 years, the decision to join with CI was not taken lightly,” said Kupferberg, in a statement. “However, we could not be more confident in this partnership, given the shared cultural and strategic vision of our firms.”
The deal represents CI’s third RIA acquisition in Chicago, bringing the Canadian firm’s total U.S. wealth management assets to about $95 billion.
This follows news last week that CI would acquire a majority interest in Bluestein, a Birmingham, Mich., and New York–-based RIA with $4.1 billion in assets.
In September, CI announced plans to launch its U.S. headquarters in Miami; the firm has leased 20,000 square feet of office space in the city’s Brickell financial district. CI expects to open the new office in 2023, which will initially house core C-suite executives and personnel. But the firm plans to expand the office as its CI Private Wealth brand evolves. With the move, CI becomes the largest financial institution to place a headquarters in South Florida, according to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
According to Echelon Partners, CI Financial was the most active strategic acquirer in the RIA space in 2020, completing nine transactions during the year. In November 2020, CI began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CIXX. The firm issued its first bond in the U.S. in December of last year.
CEO Kurt MacAlpine has been quick to say CI Financial is not building an “aggregator” model; the firm is not forcing these RIAs to change immediately. But, rather, the plan is to “empower them to naturally put these businesses together over time.”
