Merit Acquires $233M Pennsylvania RIA From OsaicMerit Acquires $233M Pennsylvania RIA From Osaic

Merit Financial Advisors, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based registered investment advisor, has added a fifth RIA firm in Pennsylvania.

Hershey Wealth Advisors in Hershey, Pa. will add about $233 million in assets under management to Merit, with Principal Gregory K. Richards joining as a wealth manager and partner, along with his team of five. The team previously used Osaic for brokerage and advisory business.

Along with financial planning and investment management, Hershey prepares individual, state, and local income tax returns and long-term care and disability insurance.

Richards said he started looking to join a larger RIA about 15 months ago to help him manage his roughly 350 family clients, grow the firm and have a realistic succession plan.

“I was finding myself running around trying to take care of everything,” Richards said. “This is an opportunity to help offload some of the administrative and operational duties to focus on what I really like, which is client service.”

Richards said that years ago, he considered growing by partnering with local firms to create an “ensemble” advisory. However, he eventually realized the most realistic approach in the current market was to team with a national RIA.

The deal, which closed Feb. 7, is the first to be announced under Merit’s recently hired vice president of strategic partners, David Wahlen, who is overseeing M&A work in coordination with CEO Rick Kent and President Kay Lynn Mayhue. Wahlen joined from Captrust, where he was director of strategic growth.

Wahlen said advisors in places like Hershey, Pa., are often strong additions for Merit because they are tapped into communities where people have assets that need managing in the $1 million to $5 million range, and there are unmet financial planning needs.

“If a firm like Greg’s is already succeeding without Merit, imagine the opportunity going forward for both him and us if we work together,” Wahlen said.

Wahlen said Merit, which made 33 acquisitions since 2020, has a robust pipeline of firms under consideration and is “saying no more than yes” as it seeks good fits. He said the firm is more apt to look at firms brought by consultancies such as FP Transitions, which advised on the Hershey transaction, than those that come in cold.

According to Wahlen, Merit was also interested in Hershey Wealth’s work in adjacent wealth services, such as tax planning and insurance. The firm sees its advisor network as a “brain trust” that can coordinate what additional services clients may be seeking.

Formerly independent, Richards said he does about 200 tax returns a year, which he sees as a “value add” for the client that also helps the firm see and manage their overall financial picture.

In December 2020, Merit took a minority stake from Wealth Partners Capital Group and a group of strategic investors led by HGGC’s Aspire Holdings platform. The RIA now has over 40 offices throughout the U.S. and manages $11.84 billion in assets, including $8.8 billion in advisory, $2.8 billion in brokerage assets, and $253 million under advisement.

WPCG has six partner firms, including its latest partnership announced in January with Melville, N.Y.-based Wealth Alliance.