Modern Wealth Management, a private equity-backed RIA launched by former United Capital executives, is acquiring three new firms totaling over $500 million in assets under management.
The new additions bring Modern Wealth above $6.5 billion in AUM.
Modern Wealth’s newest acquisitions include the Lenexa, Kan.-based Fiser Group, as well as Gardey Financial Advisors and LFM Wealth Management, based in Saginaw, Mich. and Chapel Hill, N.C., respectively. The firms will adopt the Modern Wealth brand as part of the deal.
The three acquisitions bring Modern Wealth’s annual deal total to eight and to 13 overall since the firm launched in April 2023. Now, Modern Wealth will have 16 client-facing offices across 12 states, including the recent addition of Petso Financial Consultants, a $1.4 billion Idaho-based firm.
According to Jason Gordo, co-founder and president of Modern Wealth, the three new firms “represent a unique aspect of Modern Wealth’s growth trajectory.”
“With Fiser Group, we enhance our tax expertise in an industry where top tax talent is waning,” Gordo said. “Gardey strengthens our presence in Michigan while LFM establishes our footprint in the fast-growing North Carolina market.”
The Fiser Group acquisition will bring nine tax and financial professionals into Modern Wealth, bolstering the firm’s existing team in Lenexa. Gardey Financial, founded in 1985, is a fee-only firm led by Jonathan Gardey. Six financial professionals will join Modern Wealth and work closely with the firm’s Troy, Michigan, office.
LFM is also an independent, fee-only firm led by Larry McManus that offers personalized planning and management services to families and businesses. Modern Wealth is opening a North Carolina office and adding three advisors as part of the acquisition.
Firms joining the Modern Wealth brand get access to its client service platform and lead-generating “Organic Growth Hub” operating out of Kansas City, in which it hires recent college graduates to show them the ropes of the industry while getting them to deliver leads and produce a radio program and podcast to reach potential clients (about two dozen people work at the hub).
Gordo founded the firm with fellow former United Capital executives Gary Roth and Mike Capelle, who act as its co-CEOs. Seeking an entryway into the RIA space, private equity firm Crestview Partners invested $200 million in the firm, becoming its majority stakeholder.
The firm’s co-founders intended to build a national full-service organization, with advisors coming under one ADV as W-2 employees. Modern Wealth uses Charles Schwab and Fidelity for custody.
The firm’s initial acquisition of Barber Financial offered the infrastructure, tech and talent needed to launch in 2023. Barber included offices in Kansas, Michigan and Missouri, with more than 2,300 clients, $1.5 billion in managed assets, and a team of about 50 employees, including CFPs, CPAs and estate and insurance specialists.
