Homrich Berg, an Atlanta-based registered investment advisory firm providing portfolio management, financial planning and family office services, has acquired Calvary Wealth, an RIA with $145 million in client assets.
The deal, which closed Monday, brings HB to nearly $14 billion in assets under management and adds offices in Augusta, Ga., and Columbia, S.C.
After founding and leading Calvary for 19 years, Bill Cleveland is returning to HB, where he worked early on in his career as a principal at the firm. A need for expanded resources for growth led him back to his roots. His firm will leverage the technology platform, private investment opportunities, executive management team and other internal resources, according to an announcement.
“I felt this combination ensured our clients’ experience will remain excellent while giving us a path for continued growth,” Cleveland said in a statement. “I am excited to return to HB where I learned so much at the beginning of my career. Through this partnership, we look forward to leveraging the expertise and strength of Homrich Berg to offer our clients enhanced services.”
“We’re very fortunate to have Bill return to Homrich Berg via this merger,” added HB co-founder and CEO Andy Berg. “We are also excited to continue to expand across the Southeast region.”
HB also announced the opening of a new office in Nashville, where management is in talks with talented advisors and firms across the region.
Founded in 1989, Homrich Berg provides portfolio management and financial planning services to more than 3,000 families, as well as wealthy individuals, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable institutions, foundations, endowments, private investment funds, trusts, a government entity and a registered investment company.
Through organic growth, recruitment and a handful of acquisitions, the firm has grown from around $10 billion in June 2021, when it took on minority investor New Mountain Strategic Equity, an affiliate of private equity firm New Mountain Capital.
Last summer, HB raised $75 million in debt capital through a syndicate of banks led by First Citizens. HB President Thomas Carroll told WealthManagment.com that the capital would be put toward more M&A activity. The firm had just completed its largest deal to date, acquiring $1.5 billion Oakridge Partners in HB’s hometown, and Carroll indicated they would be stepping up the pace of dealmaking and pursuing larger firms interested in joining its fully integrated model.
“We believe in one HB client service model; we believe in one HB investment philosophy and department; we believe in having one tech stack, one operations department,” he said at the time. “Our focus is to make sure that any target that would be interested in becoming part of Homrich Berg that they realize that we’re going to integrate their business into Homrich Berg. We see scale and benefits from taking that integrator approach, and we want to run a cohesive business and build it for the long term.”
