Allworth Financial is acquiring City Fiduciary Group, a tax planning-focused wealth firm in the Pacific Northwest with $839 million in client assets. The deal is Allworth’s seventh this year.
City Fiduciary Group has offices in Washington and Oregon, and the deal will boost Allworth’s presence in those states. It’ll also strengthen Allworth’s in-house tax expertise for clients, with 31 City Fiduciary employees specializing in investment advisory and tax services joining Allworth.
“The demand from our clients for comprehensive financial and tax planning continues to grow, and this is an exciting partnership that will help us meet that demand,” Allworth CEO John Bunch said about the deal.
City Fiduciary Group was founded in 2015 by merging Baikie & Alcantara and City Financial Group. It is co-owned by wealth managers Scott Lowe, Matt Pulsipher and Jeff Brooks. The firm is joining Allworth from an affiliation with Osaic.
Allworth was founded in Sacramento, Calif., in 1993. It has about $25 billion in assets under advisement (including the assets in the City Fiduciary Group deal) and 43 offices throughout the country. The City Fiduciary Group deal is the firm’s 38th acquisition since 2018.
When Allworth acquires an RIA, the firm typically rakes on the Allworth brand, with deals structured as a combination of cash and equity (about 110 advisors currently own equity in Allworth).
Bunch succeeded co-founders Scott Hanson and Pat McClain last November as part of a “natural succession plan.” Hanson and McClain remained with the firm in advisory roles, with McClain continuing to head the firm’s mergers and partnerships division while Hanson became a vice chairman.
Bunch spent more than 10 years at Charles Schwab before joining TD Waterhouse in 2004. He became CEO of The Mutual Fund Store in 2012 and remained in the role until Edelman Financial Engines acquired it. At Edelman, he held the roles of executive vice president, chief operating officer and president. Most recently, he served as the chief financial services director for the London-based Evelyn Partners.
Last month, Allworth acquired George McKelvey Company, an N.J.-based firm with more than $1.1 billion in client assets. The firm is led by partners Robert McKelvey, Robert Giunco, Jr. and Richard Looney, and its nine advisors and eight support staff joined Allworth in the deal.
Other acquisitions this year included its June acquisition of the $220 million California-based Del Monte Group, Stewart and Patten Company, a Lafayette, Calif.-based firm with $1 billion in client assets, Brennan Asset Management Group, a Redding, Calif.-based RIA with $300 million in assets and the California-based $341 million Tridea Advisors.
