Seattle-based registered investment advisor Coldstream Wealth Management has acquired accounting firm Harrison Berkman Claypool & Guard and its RIA, HBC Financial Services, which manages about $500 million in client assets. The combination enhances Coldstream’s existing tax and consulting practice and brings its total assets under advisement to $11.1 billion.
HBCG was founded in 1977 and includes six professionals, four of whom are CPAs. Five members of the team also work for the RIA, which was launched in 2001 and provides retirement planning and holistic portfolio management. The firms are led by James. B. Claypool.
The two firms will remain independently operated and employee-owned. The group will also form a new team within Coldstream’s tax and consulting practice.
"This merger is a significant step forward in our commitment to delivering exceptional service and innovative solutions to our clients,” Claypool said in a statement. “Our combined resources will empower us to offer a heightened, comprehensive level of service. Together, we are well-positioned to strengthen the client experience and provide our people with more opportunities for career development."
Established in 1996, Coldstream is one of a few large RIAs that is employee-owned. For about a decade, Boston Private partially owned the firm before management decided to buy out the bank in 2011.
This follows its deal in July to merge with Arnerich Massena, a Portland, Ore.-based RIA with about $2 billion in assets under management.
In 2021, the firm combined with Mercer Island, Wash.–based Paracle Advisors, an RIA with about $1.4 billion in client assets. Following that, the firm combined with Rosenbaum Financial, another Portland-based firm, in 2021. In October 2023, Coldstream consolidated with Seidman Capital Group, a wealth management firm, and Hersman Serles Almond, which provides accounting and consulting services. The two Kirkland, Wash.-based affiliated businesses were founded by Hersman Managing Partner Victoria Serles.
Also, in 2023, Coldstream hired Matt Sonnen as chief operating officer to help with the identification, onboarding and integration of new firms.
