Deals & People April 24, 2023

Advisory M&A

Atria Wealth Solutions acquires Grove Point Financial; Pensionmark welcomes Xponential Growth Solutions; and more.

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Atria Wealth Solutions Announces Acquisition of Grove Point Financial

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc., a multi-channel wealth management holding company, announced its definitive agreement to acquire Grove Point Financial LLC.

Grove Point is an independent wealth management firm founded in 1984 as H. Beck Inc. and acquired by Kestra Holdings in 2017. Based in Rockville, Maryland, Grove Point serves approximately 400 independent financial professionals with $15 billion in client assets.

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Upon closing, Atria’s subsidiaries will collectively represent nearly 2,700 financial professionals with approximately $115 billion in assets under administration.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Grove Point’s financial professionals, talented executive team and employees,” said Doug Ketterer, Atria’s CEO and founding partner, in a statement.

Pensionmark Acquires Xponential Growth Solutions

Financial advisory firm Pensionmark, a World Insurance Associates LLC company, announced it has acquired Xponential Growth Solutions.

XGS provides educational workshops, certified online courses, local training events and customized tools to improve retirement plan management. The firm serves retirement and benefit plan sponsors and fiduciaries, HR professionals and financial professionals.

“Our specialized product offering and commitment to service excellence are a great fit with Pensionmark,” said Jon Freye, managing director of XGS, in a statement. “We look forward to joining the team and delivering solutions that make a difference for our adviser network, their clients, and the plan sponsor community.”

Aristotle Completes Acquisition of Pacific Asset Management from Pacific Life

Aristotle Capital Management LLC announced it has completed the acquisition of Pacific Asset Management LLC, a leader in liquid credit investments, from Pacific Life Insurance Co.. Pacific Asset Management has officially been rebranded to Aristotle Pacific Capital LLC.

The acquisition added more than 50 professionals and approximately $22 billion in new assets to the Aristotle organization. Aristotle and its affiliates, including Aristotle Pacific, now have more than $77 billion in assets under management.

“The completion of this initiative is a significant step in Aristotle’s client-centric strategy, expanding our credit offerings and enabling us to offer a broader range of investment solutions to our clients,” said Richard Hollander, chairman of Aristotle, in a statement. “Our teams have proven throughout this process that they are client-focused and culturally aligned. We look forward to providing new opportunities to continue to meet our clients’ needs.”

Millennium Trust Acquires Provider of Real Estate 1031 Exchanges Accruit

Millennium Trust Company, LLC, completed the acquisition of Accruit Holdings LLC, an independent qualified intermediary and technology service provider of real estate 1031 exchanges.

The acquisition will give Millennium Trust’s clients access to facilitators of 1031 exchanges. The solution is one of the most popular, efficient tax-deferral strategies when selling and buying real estate property used for business or investment.

“More people are turning to alternative investments like real estate to grow their retirement savings and income, so 1031 exchanges are a valuable tool when managing wealth,” said Dan Laszlo, Millennium Trust’s CEO, in a statement. “We help people leverage their assets to invest in alternatives like real estate, and we’re excited about this step forward, pairing the highest level of administrative expertise and exceptional service with Accruit’s revolutionary 1031 exchange software technology.”

Silverberg Wealth Management Joins NWF Advisory Group

Silverberg Wealth Management has joined NWF Advisory Group LLC. Silverberg, featuring three former Cetera advisers, brings $212 million in client assets to the Advisor Group network.

Silverberg Wealth Management provides a range of wealth management services such as retirement planning, college savings, insurance and asset protection.

“We are thrilled to partner with NWF and look forward to all the benefits that being part of Advisor Group will bring to our business and our clients,” said Marcus Silverberg, president of Silverberg Wealth Management, in a statement. “When we decided to change firms, we had several compelling offers. After conducting our due diligence, we felt that NWF, with the backing of Advisor Group, was by far the best choice.”

Prospera Financial Welcomes Howell Wealth Advisors

Prospera Financial Services Inc., a boutique wealth management firm, announced its association with Howell Wealth Advisors.

Josh Howell, managing director, leads the two-member team, which oversees approximately $215 million in client assets and is based in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Howell has nearly 30 years of experience as a financial adviser. Howell and relationship manager Liz Fisher have joined Prospera and continue to serve clients across Southwestern Florida and beyond.

“Josh has built an incredible practice that provides clients with personalized services and support across generations of client families,” said Tarah Williams, Prospera’s president and COO, in a statement. “His firm fits perfectly into our boutique model and will benefit from our industry-leading fixed-income offerings and tailored adviser support.”

QA Wealth Management Joins CAPTRUST

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors LLC announced the addition of QA Wealth Management, a division of Quantitative Advantage LLC. The firm adds a total of 23 new colleagues to CAPTRUST and more than $770 million in advisory assets.

QA provides financial advice, planning and investment management for individuals, with a specialization in working with Big Four professionals. The firm was founded by John Wing in 2000 and today is led by CEO Dan Westin.

“We are thrilled to tap into the niche market of the Big Four partners that QA supports and to be building on our already significant presence in the Minneapolis region,” said Rush Benton, CAPTRUST’s senior director of strategic growth, in a statement.

Perspectives April 24, 2023

Ric Edelman Expects Living Past Age 100 to Force Major Savings Mindset Change

The expert suggested reevaluating the 60/40 portfolio and investing in exponential technology.

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Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and Truth About Your Future, told an audience at a longevity conference that, because people will live much longer than anticipated, they must turn to investment management to ensure retirement security.

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“We begin with the notion of longevity; it all starts there,” Edelman said at the April 20 Founders Summit 2023, an event hosted by the AARP AgeTech Collaborative and Primetime Partners. “Most people are unaware of their longevity. Most don’t realize that the bottom line is if you’re alive in 2030, you’ll probably be living past age 100. People don’t realize that. They believe that they’re going to die in their 80s.”

Edelman, who is also the founder of Edelman Financial Engines, said there are cases where financial planning projections do not accurately predict people’s longevity.

“If I project you’re going to live until age 90, and I look at your income, your assets, your savings rate, etc., you’ll be fine,” said Edelman. “But if I change that age to 100 or 110, that financial plan blows up. In other words, most people are not going to have their money as long as they can.”

Edelman told the audience people should realize they’re going to live a lot longer. The longer individuals lives, the more expensive life becomes, especially as they spend most of their money on health care in their older years.

The next goal is retirement security to guarantee that someone’s money lasts as long as they do. Edelman said this is particularly pressing given the impending Social Security crisis that could see its trust fund go broke in 2034.  Edelman expects Social Security benefits will be cut by roughly 25%.

“Since half of America gets half of their retirement income from Social Security, this is a huge crisis that’s coming,” said Edelman. “That means we go to investment management: How do you not run out of money? That means making smart investment choices today.”

With that in mind, Edelman suggested the investment strategy of doing away with the 60/40 portfolio model.

“No. 1, the 60/40 model is gone: The notion of 60% of your money in stocks, 40% bonds is gone, because we’re going to live much longer,” Edelman said. “You need to have 70/30 or 80/20. You need to do it for much older, because you’re going to live so much longer.”

Edelman said equity allocation needs to be much heavier in exponential technologies, those expected to double in capability or halve costs on a recurring basis. He specifically identified examples like artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotech, biotech, bioinformatics, crypto and financial technology. People should invest in the future, and they need to have much larger allocations of their portfolio aimed for much longer, Edelman said.

“Even though as a retiree, they’re not earning an income, they still have investments. They have money in retirement accounts, IRAs, savings,” said Edelman. “Retirees think, ‘Now that I’m retired, I need to focus on preserving income,’ and our answer is, ‘Wrong.’ We need to focus on increasing your equity allocation.”

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