Savant Wealth Management has announced its fourth acquisition in a little more than a month, as the firm seeks to triple assets over the next four years.
Rockford, Ill.-based Savant, a registered investment advisory firm currently overseeing some $25 billion in assets, has picked up FirstWave Financial, an RIA located an hour south of the Kennedy Space Center in Satellite Beach, Fla.
Managing about $440 million in assets for close to 250 clients, the 14-person team led by Laura Chiesman—a published author on the topic of succession planning—joined Savant on Jan. 1, following the close of the deal on New Year’s Eve. Terms were not disclosed, but Chiesman and four others have taken equity in Savant as part of the transaction, including Julie Allen, Leslie Carlson, Robert DeVries and Jamie Ostrander.
“To continue to serve our clients and team well into the future at the high level we are committed to, we knew we would need a growth engine that not only offers comprehensive services, such as tax and estate planning, but that also has the important technology resources necessary to compete effectively,” Chiesman said.
The FirstWave deal follows three transactions that Savant finalized at the end of November, including a set of South Carolina firms and $2.2 billion Bridgeworth Wealth Management. This latest one represents Savant’s 11th acquisition and its sixth entrance into a new state in the last year, bringing the firm to 39 offices in 15 states.
“Florida is a key strategic area for Savant, since many of our clients spend their winters there,” according to Savant CEO Brent Brodeski.
Minority owned by Kelso & Company since late 2021, Savant launched an expedited inorganic growth strategy in the summer of 2022 and has since grown assets by about $12 billion.
Last year, the firm acquired Basil Financial Group in Chicago, Capital Directions in Atlanta, Domani Wealth in Lancaster, Pa., Paragon Financial Advisors in Columbia, S.C., The Relaxing Retirement Coach in Wellesley, Mass., and R.F. Book & Associates and Wealth Management Group in Dover, Del., adding a combined $10 billion in assets.
