Modern Wealth Management, a private equity-backed registered investment advisory launched last year by former United Capital executives, has acquired Petso Financial Consultants, a fee-only RIA with about $1.4 billion in assets under management. The Boise, Idaho-based firm represents the first office West of Kansas City to join Modern Wealth, bringing the RIA’s total AUM to over $6 billion.
This is Modern Wealth’s 11th deal completed in the 18 months since its inception, including the sixth this year. It is the firm’s third transaction of $1 billion or more.
“We’re building that scale that we set out to build, and we’re finding exceptional talent and great operators across the country that are interested in joining,” said Jason Gordo, Modern Wealth co-founder and president.
Petso Financial was founded in 2001 by David Petso, who will become a managing director at Modern Wealth. The firm’s 10-person team has joined as W2 employees. That includes advisors Jennifer Stone, Thomas Brown, Michael Jillson, Richard Petso, Melissa Hassler and Trevor Klugh.
Gordo said David Petso is known in the Boise financial services community where he has hosted a radio show for over 30 years and also appeared on local TV.
Prior to joining Modern Wealth, Petso Financial was registered with Mutual Securities for brokerage business but operated under its own ADV for advisory business. David Petso said he is keeping the registration with Mutual Securities for the next year as the company winds down its legacy business there. The firm was with Cambridge Investment Research for 14 years before that.
“Joining Modern Wealth presented a unique opportunity that aligned well with Petso’s rapid client growth,” David Petso said in a statement. “It wasn’t about stepping into a plug-and-play firm; it was about joining a dynamic, fast-growing team where we could be an integral part of the journey.”
The latest deal follows Modern Wealth’s July acquisition of Knoxville, Tenn.-based C&J Wealth Advisors, which has $260 million in AUM.
Gordo said the firm continues to build out a national footprint, with plans to add offices on the West Coast this year. The RIA has an eye on key markets, including Seattle, Portland, Ore., the San Francisco Bay Area, the Los Angeles area, Scottsdale, Ariz., Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Salt Lake City. They will also build upon their existing footprint in the East.
The Petso team will gain access to Modern Wealth’s client service platform and its lead-generating “Organic Growth Hub” that the firm built in Kansas City. The firm hires recent college graduates to teach them the business from the ground up and deliver “warm” leads. The hub uses a radio program and podcast produced by the RIA’s first acquisition, Barber Financial, which has successfully attracted new business to the firm. The team also uses digital channels, organic search and other strategies to reach prospects. About two dozen people work in the hub.
“Our job is to create tens of thousands of [prospect] leads every month and point those leads at the growth hub,” Gordo said. “And then really allow the concierge associates the opportunity to sift through that list of thousands of names and only put on advisor calendars those suspects that have been warmed up to what I call ‘prospect status.’”
Modern Wealth was founded last year by Gordo and co-CEOs Gary Roth and Mike Capelle, who worked together at United Capital, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2019. They hope to build a national full-service firm rapidly through both acquisition and organic growth programs. Advisors come under one ADV, are W-2 employees and share the Modern Wealth brand. The firm uses Charles Schwab and Fidelity for custody.
Crestview, a private equity firm, invested $200 million in Modern Wealth. The firm’s first acquisition of Barber Financial gave Modern Wealth the infrastructure, technology and talent it needed to launch, executives said. Barber is comprised of Barber Financial Group, an RIA led by CEO and founder Dean Barber; Osiwala Financial Group, a subsidiary led by President Ken Osiwala; and Financial Security, an acquired practice led by President Bud Kasper.
