Advisory M&A News – 2/18/25

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Agilis Partners LLC

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Waltham, Massachusetts-based Agilis Partners LLC, an investment and retirement plan consulting firm that offers its institutional clients tailored risk management services with offices in greater Boston, New York and Denver. 

Tom Cassara and his team will remain in their current locations under the direction of Jeff Leonard, Gallagher’s global financial and retirement services business leader.

“Agilis’s strong record of growth, client-focused culture and consultative approach to solving problems will enhance our retirement plan and investment consulting capabilities,” J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “I am very pleased to welcome Tom and his associates to Gallagher.”

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Gallagher provides services in approximately 130 countries around the world through its owned operations and a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

Morningstar Forms Alliance With SS&C’s Black Diamond Wealth Platform

Morningstar Inc. and SS&C Technologies Inc. announced that SS&C’s Black Diamond wealth platform will be the first to integrate with the new Direct Advisory Suite from Morningstar.

The integration pairs investment research, portfolio construction, holdings-based analysis and client engagement capabilities from Direct Advisory Suite with technology for portfolio accounting, client communications, compliance, trading and rebalancing, data aggregation and performance reporting in Black Diamond.

“This alliance makes Black Diamond the first platform of its kind to integrate Morningstar’s rich research and data capabilities advisers have relied on for decades,” Steve Leivent, SS&C’s co-head of wealth and investment technologies, said in a statement. “The Black Diamond Wealth Platform will offer seamless integration of Morningstar’s industry-leading data and analytics with client workflows.”

Advisers from the approximately 2,700 wealth management firms on the Black Diamond Wealth Platform will have the option to include direct access to these capabilities in the platform experience.

Tocqueville Asset Management Welcomes Poplar Forest Capital

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P., a 40-year-old investment management firm delivering financial advice and services to families and institutions, announced that the advisory team at Poplar Forest Capital LLC will be joining Tocqueville.

Poplar Forest Capital has assets of $1.3 billion and was founded in September 2007 by Dale Harvey, a Capital Group alumnus and portfolio manager.

Harvey will become a Tocqueville shareholder and a member of the firm’s management committee. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Tocqueville has a long history of attracting entrepreneurial investment professionals who share our healthy skepticism of fashionable investment trends and a dedication to bottom-up, absolute return-oriented portfolio construction,” Paul Kleinschmidt, CEO of Tocqueville Asset Management, said in a statement. “Dale’s team embodies this ethos and expands our investment capabilities. We are thrilled to welcome them into the Tocqueville family.”