Deals & People December 9, 2024

Advisory M&A News – 12/9/24

Mariner completes acquisitions of Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory; Alera Group acquires Spike Risk Management; Mercer Advisors welcomes all-woman advisory team Frango Financial; and more.

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Mariner Completes Acquisitions of Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory

Mariner LLC, a leading national financial services firm, announced it has acquired Sarasota, Florida-based Atlas Financial Advisory Group Inc. and Newport Beach, Calif.-based Newport Advisory LLC in a pair of deals that will bring the firm a combined total of approximately $878 million assets under management.

The acquisitions of Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory grow Mariner’s national footprint to 126 offices nationwide and establish the firm’s second offices in both Sarasota and Newport Beach. Mariner stated it plans grow to 5,000 advisers by 2027.

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“As we welcome Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory to the Mariner family, we’re reinforcing our commitment to meeting clients where they are, both geographically and in their unique financial journeys,” Marty Bicknell, Mariner’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “These firms bring a wealth of expertise and a client-first ethos that perfectly align with our values. Their addition strengthens our capabilities while underscoring our belief that true growth comes from building strong, meaningful relationships—both with our clients and within our team.”

Alera Group Acquires Spike Risk Management

Alera Group Inc., an insurance and financial services firm, announced that employee benefits insurance firm Spire Risk Management LLC, joined Alera Group effective December 1.

The partnership is intended to strengthen Alera Group’s employee benefits offerings in the South-Central region. Established in 1986, Spire Risk Management provides consulting, compliance and administrative services of employee benefit programs.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Spire Risk Management to the Alera Group team,” Alan Levitz, CEO of Alera Group, said in a statement “Alera Group continuously strives to deliver additional national and regional resources so we can provide even greater value and service to our clients.”

Members of the Spire Risk Management team will continue serving clients in their existing roles.

Mercer Advisors Welcomes All-Woman Advisory Team Frango Financial

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. announced the acquisition of Frango Financial LLC, a registered investment adviser delivering financial planning services primarily in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina.

Managing approximately $110 million in client assets and founded in 2011, the firm offers investment management, retirement planning, insurance and risk management, education funding, cash flow management, and tax and estate planning services.

Frango consists of the two-person team of Frances Goldman, president and founder, and Pamela Postma Khinda, an adviser. The team partnered with Mercer Advisors to sustain and expand its premium client service.

“Our commitment is to deliver value that exceeds our fee, and it was important for us to identify a partner with whom we had strong cultural and fiduciary alignment,” Goldman said in a statement. “We are excited to join forces with Mercer Advisors and leverage their expanded resources to help us further secure our clients’ financial futures.”

Carmichael Hill & Associates Joins MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management LLC, a registered investment adviser specializing in investment and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals and families, announced the acquisition of Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.

Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Carmichael Hill has offered retirement planning and financial services since its founding in 1989. Principal Jim Stewart, became the sole owner of the firm in 2013. The firm offers retirement, tax and estate planning, specializing in advising individuals over the age of 50, as well as small businesses. The firm had $350 million in client assets under management as of September 30.

“The addition of the Carmichael Hill team marks another step forward in our mission to deliver high quality service and solutions for clients,” James McDermott, an MAI market leader and regional president, said in a statement.

Carmichael Hill will adopt MAI’s brand identity and receive its internal infrastructure, including HR, operations and marketing resources. As part of MAI, Stewart will take on the title of senior wealth adviser and team leader.

Deals & People December 9, 2024

Vanguard Plans $900B Advice and Wealth Management Division

The new division will be headed by a former Fidelity executive and be separate from Vanguard’s Personal Investor segment.

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The Vanguard Group Inc. is preparing to launch a new advice and wealth management business unit, carving out the firm’s retail investor business from its personal investor division as a stand-alone entity, the asset manager and recordkeeper announced Monday.

The new division will manage more than $900 billion in assets and integrate Vanguard’s institutional business, which includes its retirement plan business and third-party intermediary operations.

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Leading the division will be Joanna Rotenberg, who will join Vanguard in January 2025 as a managing director and a member of the senior leadership team. As the former president of personal investing at Fidelity, Rotenberg led retirement, brokerage and wealth management businesses, overseeing services for more than 20 million U.S. investors.

Matt Benchener, managing director of Vanguard’s Personal Investor business, will continue overseeing the digital client experience, brokerage and savings solutions. Rotenberg and Benchener will both report to Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji.

Vanguard’s Vision

The move is a signal that Ramji, who joined the firm from BlackRock Inc. in July, is “making more of a concentrated effort to focus on the advice side of the business and signal that it will be a more important part of the strategy in the U.S. market,” says Dan Sotiroff, a senior manager research analyst for Morningstar Research Services LLC.

Sotiroff notes that Vanguard has been making incremental steps toward personal advice and wealth management. He notes the firm’s 2021 acquisition of Just Invest, which focuses on personalized index investing, and Vanguard’s work to offer robo-advisory services, including lowering asset minimums in September.

“You can start out with the robo-adviser for individuals who don’t have as much money, and then work up in the tiers as people need more personalized advice,” he says of the strategy.

Leadership Changes

Vanguard also announced several additional leadership changes. John James, the current managing director of the Institutional Investor group, will lead the Workplace and Advisor Solutions group, focusing on enterprise client relationships. Meanwhile, Lauren Valente, currently managing director and chief human resources officer, will head the Institutional Investor group. Jon Couture, an HR executive most recently at Principal Financial Group, will join Vanguard as a managing director and senior leadership team member, succeeding Valente.

“For nearly five decades, Vanguard has been a positive force in democratizing investing, helping to give tens of millions of investors the best chance for investment success,” Ramji said in a statement. “With the addition of Joanna to our leadership team, our goal is to further democratize our advice and wealth management offerings for our clients through enhanced technologies and offers.”

Morningstar’s Sotiroff notes that Ramji, while known for his work at BlackRock leading iShares and index investments divisions, had also spent time as head of the firm’s U.S. wealth advisory business and in many ways is the “right person” to build out this advice and wealth strategy while continuing with Vanguard’s strength in low-cost index investing.

He says it remains to be seen how the new division might connect to the recordkeeper side of Vanguard’s business. But he does see the general push toward wealth management as a way to “keep revenue coming in” for the long term while it continues in the low-cost-indexing space.

“They are thinking about what they can charge for while keeping with the Vanguard ethos of keeping the investor first,” he says.

Prior to Fidelity, Rotenberg served as group head of BMO Wealth Management at BMO Financial Group and was a partner at McKinsey & Co.

Prior to Principal, Couture was executive vice president of human resources for consumer lending, payments, virtual channels, operations and innovation at Wells Fargo.

Correction: Fixes error in CEO Ramji’s background.

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