In RIA news this week, Dynasty's DayMark Wealth Partners doubles its AUM with the addition of a Wells Fargo team, Pinnacle Private Wealth goes independent with Commonwealth and Hightower announces it will invest in a Pacific Northwest firm with more than $1 billion in client assets.
Meanwhile, former Brinker Capital executives formally launch a firm that will connect international financial institutions with RIAs, Captrust adds $567 million AUM Aevitas, Wealth Enhancement Group acquires a local $238 million hybrid firm and Focus firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth adds Madison Wealth Advisors.
Also announced this week: two Goldman Sachs alums leave to join other ex-Goldman execs at freshly-minted Modern Wealth, F.L.Putnam hires a new head of investment consulting and a Hightower executive joins a Hightower firm.
In earlier reported news, former SVB Private CIO Shannon Saccocia joins Neuberger Berman Private Wealth and Cresset merges with an RIA serving entertainers and pro athletes.
DayMark Wealth Partners Doubles AUM with Wells Fargo Grab
DayMark Wealth Partners, a Dynasty Financial Partners-supported RIA, announced that a team of six has left Wells Fargo Advisors to establish the Compass Group of DayMark.
T. Rodney Twells, Andrew Sikorovsky, and Joseph Schmidt have joined the firm as managing partners, joined by Kimberly Fitzgerald as senior director of client relations along with Jacquelyn Gibbons and Karen Suskowicz as directors of client relations.
Overseeing more than $1 billion in client assets, the Compass Group has more than 150 years of combined experience and serves multigenerational families, retirement plans, endowments and institutions.
“The ability to customize investment solutions and serve clients in a true open architecture environment were attributes we required when making this decision,” Schmidt said in a statement.
“Having spent over two years studying and interviewing other firms, we concluded that this business structure provides us the best opportunity and most flexibility to serve our client’s unique investment needs,” added Sikorovsky. “The ability to select Fidelity Investments as a national partner to safeguard client assets is another benefit to our move.”
Based in Cincinnati, DayMark will oversee around $2 billion in assets as a result of the deal. DayMark is a member of the Dynasty Financial Partners’ Network of independent financial advisory firms.
Pinnacle Private Wealth Leaves Associated to Go Independent with Commonwealth
The Waltham, Mass.-based Commonwealth Financial Network announced the addition of Pinnacle Private Wealth in Kimberly, Wisc.
Formerly with Associated Investment Services, Associated Bank’s private wealth arm, senior partners Todd Funk and Kelly Watzka—along with their team—bring with them $220 million in client assets.
Commonwealth’s technology stack, growing suite of products and Strategic Retirement Solutions Group were reasons Pinnacle chose it as a partner, according to the announcement. With the added tools and support, Pinnacle plans to expand into retirement planning and investment management for small business owners.
“They have everything we need to run and grow our business in the way that works for us,” Watzka added. “Their retirement team will help us serve more small businesses. And with the added products and robust technology, it checks off all the boxes for us.”
The firm will join Integrated Equity Management, a Commonwealth-affiliated hybrid RIA with $830 million in client assets and locations in Bloomington, Minn., and Naples, Fla. Pinnacle joins as part of IEM’s second division, IEM Partners, which supports other advisors looking to go independent.
“Going independent and taking ownership of our books of business were our main goals,” said Funk.
Founded in 1979, the Commonwealth network currently boasts more than 2,100 independent financial advisors overseeing about $243 billion in assets nationally.
Former Brinker Capital Executives Launch New RIA Partner
A year after its founding, Ategenos Capital is officially underway, spearheaded by a number of former executives from Brinker Capital, including John Coyne, Brinker’s co-founder.
Coyne will be the Ategenos’ chairman, with Jason Moore taking over as CEO to handle daily operations. Most recently, Moore was the chief solutions officer at Brinker, and also spent more than two decades at Morgan Stanley, including heading their investment advisory division.
Brendan McConnell will serve as COO, while Jeff Raupp and Amy Magnotta will serve as chief investment officers, co-leading the new firm’s investment management division. McConnell, Raupp and Magnotta are all Brinker alumni, with Raupp previously serving as the CIO before leaving in 2021. Magnotta was Brinker’s head of discretionary portfolio before she departed in 2022.
“We pride ourselves on developing a culture that focuses on serving our partners to help them achieve their strategic objectives,” Moore said. “Our company is comprised of a team of experts with unique industry knowledge that focuses on delivering investment solutions with best-in-class service to financial institutions and their advisors on the platforms they’re engaging with today.”
They will first focus on assisting global financial institutions working to gain a foothold in the United States, helping those outside the country benefit from the safety of U.S.-based investments. The firm is still waiting on SEC registration, but when cleared to do so, it plans to launch discretionary investment advisory solutions.
Brinker Capital merged with Orion Advisor Solutions in September 2020, with the combined company totaling $44 billion in assets at the time and offering more than $10,000 advisors access to investment strategies.
Captrust Adds $567M Massachusetts-Based Firm Aevitas
Captrust Financial Advisors is acquiring Aevitas Wealth Management, a firm out of Wellesley Hills, Mass. with $567 million in managed assets. President and CIO Michael Schreiber will join Captrust along with four colleagues.
Founded in 2017, Aevitas is the third Captrust office in the Bay State. Schreiber said he was drawn by Captrust’s fiduciary conduct.
“High client contact and care is a priority for our team at Aevitas, and we saw the same priority in Captrust,” he said.
Captrust was founded in 1997, and oversees more than $714 billion in assets, including $598 billion in non-discretionary AUA and a little under $116 billion in discretionary AUM. This is Captrust’s third deal of the year, including the massive acquisition of Monroe Vos Consulting, a Houston-based RIA with more than $5.8 billion in assets.
Wealth Enhancement Group Acquires $238M Hybrid RIA
Wealth Enhancement Group announced the acquisition of Infinity Wealth Alliance, a Minnesota-based hybrid RIA with $238 million in assets under management.
“The team at Infinity Wealth Alliance has built a successful business delivering outstanding service and advice to its clients for over two decades,” WEG CEO Jeff Dekko said of the firm founded in 2002 by Luther Hagen that will boost the RIA's presence in the Minneapolis area.
Earlier this year, WEG acquired $1 billion AUM Equius Partners in the San Francisco area, adding a 12th office in the region. Earlier this month, WEG added Heacock & Jones, an Iowa-based $355 million independent RIA.
Based in Minneapolis, WEG now oversees some $67 billion for more than 49,000 households from more than 90 offices nationwide.
Hightower Invests in $1B Washington-Based Firm
Hightower is making a “strategic investment” in TEN Capital Wealth Advisors, a firm with about $1 billion in assets with offices in Seattle and Spokane, Wash.
Tim Mitrovich founded the firm in 2012, with the ‘ten’ a nod to his grandfather’s football jersey number.
Mitrovich said the firm conducted an “extensive search” to find the right partner to support its growth before deciding on Hightower. President Jacob Trimm said the firm chose Hightower for its “similar culture” and suite of services for business owners. It hopes to use the partnership to expand its reach in the Pacific Northwest region.
Hightower’s assets under administration stood at about $148 billion as of the end of March, with managed assets nearly $120 billion. The firm works with about 130 advisory businesses throughout 34 states, offering business, leadership and team development, and advice on acquiring talent, marketing, tech, compliance and other needs.
Madison Wealth Advisors Joins Buckingham Strategic Wealth
Focus Financial announced that Madison Wealth Advisors, an RIA based in Lee's Summit, Mo., will join Focus partner firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth.
This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.
Founded over two decades ago, Madison Wealth has been leveraging Buckingham’s TAMP services for back-office support ever since. The firm currently oversees more than $200 million in assets for around 100 clients.
"Because of our long-standing relationship and the resulting confidence we have in Buckingham, the next logical step in expanding the services and offerings of our firm was to join forces with Buckingham Strategic Wealth," Madison Managing Member Doug Clark said in a statement. “During what we believe will be a seamless transition, while the name on our door will change, there will be no change in our commitment to serve our clients."
Headquartered in St. Louis, Buckingham has more 50 offices and 550 employees across the country, overseeing some $23 billion in client assets.
Goldman Sachs Alums to Head Modern Wealth’s Investments and Growth Unit
Modern Wealth Management, an RIA launched last month by three former United Capital execs with $200 million in PE funding, welcomed two ex-Goldman Sachs vice presidents to build an investment platform and lead generation program.
In his new role as director of investments at Modern Wealth, Stephen Tuckwood will oversee investment processes, help build out an investment platform and collaborate with partners on strategic investment plans, according an announcement.
As the firm’s new head of growth operations, Nicole Bittner will oversee organic growth channels and build out a team responsible for lead generation and development. Before joining Modern Wealth, she was vice president of strategic partnerships and commercial engagement at Goldman Sachs, helping advisors develop leads and clients.
The RIA was launched last month by co-CEOs Gary Roth and Mike Capelle, and President Jason Gordo (with the help of $200 million from private equity investor Crestview Partners). All three exited Goldman to start the firm.
The RIA bought the $1.5 billion Barber Financial Group in late April, which has offices in Michigan, Kansas and Missouri. It was Modern Wealth’s first acquisition since launching.
Roth said the two new hires would play important roles moving forward for the organization.
"As Modern Wealth is quickly building out its national footprint, Stephen and Nicole will be pivotal in building key functions and teams necessary to maintain our rapid growth,” he said.
F.L.Putnam To Expand UNHW Services with Stephanie Bruckner
F.L.Putnam Investment Management announced that Stephanie Bruckner will assume the role of principal and managing director of investment consulting for the firm.
In her new role, she will work to expand the firm’s service offering for ultra-high-net-worth clients and single-family offices from F.L.Putnam’s New York office.
Bruckner will work with F.L.Putnam’s investment and Atrato Consulting teams to bring bespoke outsourced chief investment officer services to the firm’s clients, including investment strategy design and implementation, portfolio construction and execution across liquid and illiquid assets, proprietary research, comprehensive reporting and family office services, according to an announcement.
“Our clients deserve the sharpest minds and soundest guidance that our industry has to offer, and that’s what they are getting in Stephanie Bruckner,” F.L.Putnam CEO Tom Manning said in a statement. “Stephanie has worked with ultra-high-net-worth clients and single-family offices through multiple market cycles.”
Prior to joining the firm, Bruckner spent more than five years as managing partner at Archilo, an OCIO consulting practice she established after managing a family office for five years. Earlier in her career, she was a trader at CitadelGlobal Equities and an FX Sales Trader at Barclays Capital.
Based in Wellesley, Mass., F.L.Putnam has grown AUM by more than 200% since CEO Tom Manning took the helm in late 2015. The firm currently oversees around $4.3 billion in assets for some 1,673 clients.
Hightower Exec Joins Hightower-Associated Firm
In other Hightower news, former executive Mike Drennen is moving from the parent firm to one of its advisory businesses, becoming the chief wealth officer at the Cleveland-based Fairport Wealth. He’s taking over from Matt Logar, who was recently appointed CEO of the firm.
“Not only does his understanding of advisor-client relationships and skills in igniting growth make him a perfect fit for this leadership role, but in his time working closely with Fairport while at Hightower, we learned that he is a culture fit as well,” Logar said about Drennen. “He’ll be able to hit the ground sprinting.”
Drennen’s sprints will include helping lead the organization’s strategic directions, as well as overseeing the Advice, Growth, Marketing and Training divisions within the firm. Fairport joined Hightower in 2017, and has since made numerous acquisitions (including the Harrisburg, Penn.-based FMA Advisory in 2021, with $500 million in managed assets).
In the past several years, the firm’s grown from 32 to more than 50 employees and more than doubled the number of households served, according to Hightower.
NFP Completes Ground Control/Tanner Mainstain Glynn and Johnson Integration
The wealth manager and property and casualty broker NFP completed the integration between its Los Angeles company Ground Control and Tanner Mainstain Glynn and Johnson, after NFP first acquired the latter company in 2021.
Ground Control works with high-net-worth individuals, concentrating on entertainers and industry executives, as well as professional athletes. TMGJ is a tax and business management firm working as advisors for similar clientele, managing clients’ financial lives, providing tax-related and bill paying services, as well as insurance and wealth management advice.
Ground Control CEO Chris Bucci said the integration boosted its ability to deliver business management services with quality and consistency.
“A unified Ground Control brand represents the breadth and depth of our expertise and the boundless potential of our team,” he said.
A year ago, NFP announced a “comprehensive realignment” to boost its wealth and retirement management business in addition to its well-known status as an insurance provider, with wealth and retirement services contributing 16.5% of the company’s $534 million in total revenues in 2022’s first quarter.
