CAPTRUST Announces 1st Wealth Acquisition of 2024

CAPTRUST announced Thursday the acquisition of Engrave Wealth Partners, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, and managing more than $770 million in individual client assets. The firm’s co-founders, Greg and Taylor Parker, will join CAPTRUST with eight other colleagues.

“We recognized the challenges of continuing to serve our existing clients at the highest level while continuing to grow,” Greg Parker said in a statement. “Ultimately, we were looking for a partner who could help us deepen our offering to existing clients while accelerating our organic growth strategy.”

According to Echelon’s “Registered Investment Adviser M&A Deal Report,” CAPTRUST completed nine acquisitions last year, bringing in a total of $16.27 billion in assets under management. In 2023, RIAs like CAPTRUST, which also specializes in retirement plan advisement, were among a group of firms that accounted for 71% of all announced RIA transactions. Wealth Enhancement Group, Mercer Advisors and CAPTRUST were the most active buyers in that grouping, followed by Savant Capital Management and Creative Planning. The five firms completed 53 deals, totaling $101.6 billion in assets acquired.

Engrave, based in the Houston metropolitan area, is a fiduciary to hundreds of clients focused within Texas, Louisiana and California. Most of its clientele are corporate professionals or small business owners in or nearing retirement, with many from the oil and gas industry, according to the announcement.

“The resources we are most excited to access at CAPTRUST are the investment and tax services,” Taylor Parker said in a statement. “They will significantly deepen the expertise we can offer and will elevate the experience we provide to our clients.”

Engrave will be CAPTRUST’s second office in metro Houston alongside Monroe Vos Consulting, which joined the firm in 2023, and fourth added in 2023 in Texas, joining Omega Wealth Partners and Southern Wealth Management. CAPTRUST now has 12 locations and more than 170 employees in the state, adding to more than 1,500 employees nationwide.

“The team at Engrave expands our offering in the Houston area with wealth management services,” Rush Benton, CAPTRUST’s managing director, said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome yet another stellar team in Texas, now our second-largest employee presence in the country.”

Engrave joined CAPTRUST in late 2023 and, consistent with other transactions, Engrave will take on the CAPTRUST brand. Waller Helms Advisors served as Engrave’s financial adviser in the transaction.

Correction Update: Story fixes the total number of locations CAPTRUST has in Texas.