Carson Wealth added two new locations and six employees in Georgia and Montana, the company announced this week, while Waverly Advisors acquired its fourth Florida practice. Late last week, Mariner Advisors announced that it will acquire Baystate Wealth Management in Boston with $1.8 billion in assets, in a deal expected to close on Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, Carnegie Investment Counsel shook up its leadership team and Anchor Capital Advisors brought back a former analyst to head up investment research.
In this week’s earlier reported news:
Steward Partners Global Advisory jumped on the M&A bandwagon with the launch of a new division. Savant Wealth Management agreed to buy $2.2 billion AUM Bridgeworth Wealth. Snowden Lane Partners surpassed $1 billion in recruited assets this year. Savvy Advisors picked up a 12th advisor with an impressive resume, and Wealth Enhancement Group added a pair of firms in upstate New York. Ketoret Capital left Sanctuary Advisors to join Focus Financial firm Telemus Capital, and Edelman Financial Engines added a team with $500 million in assets as the firm prepares to step up M&A activity.
Carson Wealth Adds Locations in Georgia, Montana
Omaha-based Carson Group has established two more Carson Wealth locations after recruiting advisors in Milton, Ga., and Billings, Mont., the company announced this week.
With $150 million in assets, Main Street Financial Group has served clients in Georgia for more than two decades. The four-person team is led by C.G. Lewis, who has been a member of the Carson Coaching program for a decade and is taking on the roles of senior wealth advisor and managing partner under Carson Wealth.
"As technology changes, we want to ensure we stay at the forefront for our clients,” Lewis said in a statement. “Carson Wealth has a remarkable track record of helping financial advisors grow their practices while maintaining their unique identity. This partnership will enable us to continue providing exceptional service, now bolstered by the resources and support of the Carson Wealth team. Our clients will still be served by the same faithful crew they have come to know and trust, but now under the Carson Wealth name."
In Montana, Arbor Point Advisors has joined Carson Wealth with more than $85 million in assets. Paul Reinker joins the firm as a partner and wealth advisor, along with Client Services Associate Nicole Bauman.
“I wanted to be part of an advisor community, not just a number,” Reinker said. “By becoming a partner with a firm like Carson, I will be able to continue to grow my firm and secure a legacy for both my firm and my clients, now and well into the future.”
“Through our network, our advisor partners can tap into Carson’s expertise and resources enabling them to provide their clients with an even more comprehensive suite of services,” said Burt White, Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Carson Group.
Backed by Bain Capital, Carson Group manages around $30 billion in assets for more than 48,000 families across an advisory network of 140-plus partner offices, including more than 50 Carson Wealth locations. Securities are offered through Cetera Advisor Networks.
Waverly Advisors Picks Up Prosper Financial Advisors in Florida
Birmingham, Ala.-based Waverly Advisors has established a fourth Florida location, with its sixth acquisition of the year as the firm continues an aggressive inorganic growth strategy, bolstered by capital from Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC’s Aspire Holdings platform.
Founded in 2008 by Rhonda Holifield, St. Petersburg-based Prosper is an all-female team that brings more 30 years of wealth management and financial planning experience to Waverly.
“We wear many hats running the daily operations of the firm,” Holifield said in a statement. “Partnering with Waverly offers us additional resources, stronger infrastructure and the opportunity to focus on what our business does best—providing prudent and comprehensive financial advice to our clients.”
The acquisition of Prosper, which closed on Nov. 10, marks the 10th since Waverly accepted an equity investment from WPCG and HGGC in late 2021. Last month, the firm completed its first deal north of the Mason-Dixon with the acquisition of Rainsberger Wealth Advisors in Colorado Springs, Co. Over the summer, the firm moved into Austin, Texas.
Waverly now boasts 13 offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Colorado, managing close to $7.7 billion in client assets—up from around $6 billion at the end of last year.
Mariner Wealth Advisors Acquires Baystate Wealth Management
Last Friday, Mariner Wealth Advisors announced the acquisition of Baystate Wealth Management in Boston, adding $1.8 billion in client assets when the deal closes on Jan. 1.
Founded by Thomas O’Connor and Dave Porter in 2009, Baystate has 13 employees—about half of whom are advisors—providing investment management services for around 2,243 households and 17 business interests.
The firm utilizes a proprietary risk-focused management strategy that segments assets into one of three risk categories—risk assets, such as commodities, equities, certain securities and high-yield income; diversification assets, including government bonds, hedge fund beta and options strategies; and protection assets, including cash and cash equivalent securities.
“Not only does Baystate’s advanced approach to investment portfolios fold perfectly into Mariner’s catalog of strategies, bolstered by their team of talented professionals, but their values also align with ours,” said Mariner President and CEO Marty Bicknell said in a statement.
Baystate also offers outsourced investment management for advisors and will continue to do so under the Baystate name. This is a new growth channel for Mariner which, in turn, will support the team as it scales up and expands its reach.
The acquisition will establish Mariner’s third office in Massachusetts and its 98th nationwide. Founded in 2006 with $300 million in assets under advisement, Mariner and its affiliates oversee more than $114 billion in total client assets.
Carnegie Investment Counsel Poaches Ancora COO, Names New CEO and President
Carnegie Investment Counsel, a Cleveland-based RIA with more than $3.8 billion in managed assets, has hired a new chief operating officer and named two partners to the newly created positions of CEO and president in a high-level reorganization meant to create alignment around ambitious growth goals in the coming year.
Joe Spidalieri, who served as COO for Ancora Advisors and chief compliance officer for Ancora Group and its subsidiary trust company, has replaced former Carnegie COO Gary Wagner. Wagner is stepping into the role of president, while former Chief Investment Officer Richard Alt is now CEO.
Alt and Wagner are both partners in Carnegie, which was originally part of Prescott, Ball & Turben, founded in 1974. The firm began growing in earnest about a decade ago, increasing assets by more than 650% (from $500 million), completing a dozen acquisitions and expanding to nine locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and California since 2012.
Carnegie is setting ambitious growth goals for the coming year, according to a spokesperson, with a focus on expanding client relationships, adding services and stepping up M&A activity.
A new CIO will not be sought, as the firm's investment and portfolio management teams are already supported by Director of Research Greg Halter.
Anchor Capital Advisors Appoints New Director of Research
Anchor Capital Advisors, a Boston RIA overseeing around $7.8 billion in client assets, has named Stephanie Moroney director of research as part of a strategic growth plan, the firm announced this week.
In the role, Moroney will be responsible for overseeing research analysts, making sure all aspects of the research process adhere to firm guidelines, and coordinating investment team workflow to ensure that strategic decisions reached by the risk committee, on which she sits, are consistently implemented.
Moroney was an equity analyst at Anchor Capital between 2015 and 2018. Following that, she spent a summer as an equity analyst with Fidelity Investments before moving into the same role at Brown Brothers Harriman in 2020.
