Savant Wealth Management, a fee-only registered investment advisor with $57.2 billion in client assets, has landed its first office in Maine with a nine-person team based in South Portland.
Richard Brothers Financial Advisors has agreed to join Savant with consulting and valuation advice from FP Transitions.
President Randall Richard and brother Neal Richard, principal and chief operating officer, founded the RIA in 1996 with a strategy of “Whole Picture Planning,” with investment management, retirement planning, tax considerations, risk management and long-term life goals for clients.
The Richard brothers will get equity in Savant, along with Director of Client Relations Zachary Lauzon and Director of Internal Operations Laura Linscott. The other team members will join as employees.
Randall Richard said in a statement that joining Savant would expand the firm’s resources.
Rockford, Ill.-based Savant is led by CEO Brent Brodeski and is majority-owned by him and other employees, along with minority investors Kelso & Company and The Cynosure Group. With this latest deal, Savant has 70 offices in 28 states.
Cerity Partners Expands Into Oregon with $370M RIA
Cerity Partners, an acquisitive RIA with $156.3 billion in client assets, has expanded into Oregon with the acquisition of Portland-based Cordant Wealth Partners, an advisory firm focused on financial planning and investment management for tech employees.
Cordant was founded in 2010 by William Anfuso, a former Morgan Stanley advisor, and is led by President and CEO Isaac Presley, who started at the firm as a portfolio manager in 2011, according to his LinkedIn page. Presley and Cordant specialize in working with tech industry employees, including compensation planning and management, such as restricted stock units, employee stock purchase plans, deferred compensation, mega-backdoor Roth strategies and equity diversification.
“Cordant Wealth Partners represents exactly the kind of firm we look for in a partner—deeply client-centric, fiduciary in everything they do, and genuinely expert in a niche that matters to a growing segment of high-net-worth clients,” Claire O’Keefe, partner and head of partner development at Cerity Partners, said in a statement.
Echelon Partners advised Cordant Wealth on the deal with Cerity, a New York-based firm majority-owned by private equity firm Genstar Capital, with minority ownership from employees and Lightyear Capital.
Osaic Adds $575M Affiliate to W-2 Employee Channel
Osaic, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based independent broker/dealer, has added another affiliated team to its W-2 employee channel.
Cincinnati-based Tri-State Financial Group will shift to Osaic’s employee model after being affiliated with Osaic through a legacy business called Lincoln. Michael “Mike” George will make the move after being affiliated with Lincoln since 1998, along with Michelle “Shelly” Metzger, who had been affiliated with the division since 1999.
They will be joined by Rhonda Matarese and Michael Metzger, Shelly’s husband.
Osaic CEO Jamie Price has been championing growth in the firm’s W-2 channel. In an announcement, Osaic wrote that George and Metzger will use the model to create a “more seamless succession framework.” For advisor Matarese, the firm wrote that the move “provides a glidepath to take on additional client relationships and responsibilities over time without the upfront requirements often associated with traditional succession transactions.”
Osaic has seen other teams move to the channel recently, including the $500 million team Pointes North Wealth Management and the $1.5 billion Gateway Investments.
In April, Osaic’s private equity owner Reverence Capital Partners closed on a recapitalization of the broker/dealer, with Bain Capital entering as a new investor. The deal raised more than $2 billion in fresh capital for Osaic and allowed Reverence to retain majority ownership.
LPL Adds $340M McCormick Private Wealth to Linsco Channel
LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker/dealer, has poached a $340 million advisory team from Steward Partners to its Linsco W-2 advisor affiliation channel.
Financial advisor Wayne McCormick has left Steward after eight years to start McCormick Private Wealth with San Diego-based LPL, along with fellow advisors Michelle Lauder and Bo Denniston. The firm will be based in Bedford, N.H., and adds to a string of new advisor teams moving to Linsco since LPL launched the channel in late 2023.
McCormick has a background in lending, credit, retirement planning and insurance, and was with Raymond James before joining Steward.
According to LPL, McCormick joined its employee channel to maintain independence while getting access to LPL’s technology and institutional resources.
“What stood out was the ability to combine a seamless technology experience with the flexibility to choose the solutions that best serve our clients,” McCormick said in a statement.
