Advisory M&A News – 8/26/24

Rise Growth Partners Announces first strategic investment in Bleakley Financial Group; Sanctuary welcomes $400 million North Carolina-based TOVA Wealth; DFA Veterans launch Parkwoods Wealth Partners; and more.

Rise Growth Partners Announces First Strategic Investment in Bleakley Financial Group

Rise Growth Partners, a financial partner for registered investment advisers, announced its first strategic minority investment in Bleakley Financial Group.

Bleakley is a wealth advisory and financial planning firm established more than three ago, whose advisers currently service almost $10 billion in advisory assets, as of June 30. This partnership will give Bleakley the resources and capital to attract firms, adviser teams and individual advisers.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

“For a long time, we have considered bringing on a partner to accelerate our evolution into a nationally recognized firm,” said Andy Schwartz, a principal in Bleakley, in a statement. “In Rise, we found a strategic partner with not only capital but also the expertise to expand a national firm that attracts top-tier growth-oriented advisors.”

Earlier this year, Rise announced a $250 million investment commitment from Charlesbank Capital Partners, supporting its efforts to invest in select RIAs nationwide.

Sanctuary Welcomes $400M North Carolina-Based TOVA Wealth

Sanctuary Wealth has welcomed TOVA Wealth, a Wilmington, North Carolina-based practice with more than $400 million in client assets. The firm is led by its founder and managing partner, Katie Medina. Also on the team are Michael Tunney and Eric Starkey, advisers, and Amy Kepler, a client associate.

“Deciding to move forward with our own firm is a consequential decision and is not something we take lightly,” said Medina in a statement. “Sanctuary speaks our language and comes highly recommended by others who have left Merrill to start their own business within the network.”

According to Sanctuary, as an independent firm, TOVA is not beholden to any financial institution. It offers flexibility to its clients and is committed to making personalized financial planning accessible to everyone.

“After spending their entire careers at a wirehouse, Katie and her team wanted the autonomy to run their business and serve clients as they felt best,” said Vince Fertitta, president of wealth management at Sanctuary Wealth. “They believed that remaining employees of a large bank was no longer the best environment. […] After thorough reflection and due diligence, they chose Sanctuary Wealth’s hybrid, multi-custodial and shared ADV model.”

Veterans of Dimension Fund Advisors Launch Parkwoods Wealth Partners

Parkwoods Wealth Partners LLC announced its official launch, introducing a platform designed to support the growth and succession planning of registered investment advisories. The firm also announced the successful integration of its first partner, FMF&E Wealth Management LLC, based in Syracuse, New York.

Parkwoods was founded by industry veterans previously with Dimensional Fund Advisors: Al Sears and Ed Edwin, formerly of DFA, in partnership with Chris Gardner, an RIA practitioner, combined to create a platform tailored for advisers and aligned with DFA’s investment philosophy.

“Many independent advisors today face a difficult choice: sell their practice and lose control, or maintain independence at the cost of developing sustainable second-generation talent and diversifying what’s often their largest personal asset,” said Sears, co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “Our model allows advisers to maintain their well-earned professional autonomy while accessing the benefits and security of a larger organization.”

Parkwoods centralizes operational tasks such as compliance, trading, human resources and custodian-related activities, allowing advisers to dedicate more time to client relationships and strategic growth, according to firm.

Diversify Advisor Network Acquires Perspective Financial Services

Diversify Advisor Network, the adviser-founded wealth management firm, has added Perspective Financial Services LLC, a Phoenix-based fee-only firm with $290 million in assets under management.

Perspective was founded in 2003 by industry veteran Mike McCann, with a team of seven advisers, most of whom have been with Perspective for more than 15 years. They will join Diversify Wealth Management LLC, Diversify’s W2/Partner RIA platform.  

“This was a big win for the Diversify family,” said Jina Horton, vice president of business development at Diversify, in a statement. “The entire Perspective team has an extraordinary dedication to their clients and their community. They align perfectly with the long-term vision we are creating at Diversify.”

In addition to Perspective, Diversify welcomed Jason Zivich, formally with WealthSource, to its independent RIA, Diversify Advisory Services LLC. Zivich is based out of Manhattan Beach, California, and oversees $150 million in fee-based assets from ultra-high-net-worth investors.

Alight Names Dave Guilmette as CEO

The vice chair of the board will elevate to CEO so he can ‘hit the ground running,’ according to the firm.

Dave Guilmette

Alight Inc., one of the country’s largest recordkeepers, has announced Dave Guilmette as its new CEO. He will also maintain his current role as vice chair of the board. As part of Alight’s succession planning, Guilmette replaces Stephan Scholl, who stepped down as Alight’s CEO and as a board member but will stay on as an adviser for six months.

Earlier this month, Alight’s board of directors appointed Guilmette, who had just been named to the board as an independent director in May, following an activist investor’s February call for change, as vice chair. The change is also intended to install a leader with more experience in the benefits industry.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

According to Alight, the recent $1.2 billion sale of its payroll and professional services segment to an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital aligns with its leadership transition, as the company sought a CEO with deeper experience in the benefits industry.

“I am honored to lead Alight at this pivotal time,” Guilmette said in a statement. “Our technology transformation and recent divestiture have laid the groundwork for us to emerge as a much stronger company with a significantly improved financial profile.”

Before joining Alight, Guilmette served as CEO of Global Health Solutions, a multi-billion-dollar division of Aon, where he led growth and profitability efforts. In its announcement, Alight credited Guilmette’s extensive expertise in innovation, large-scale solution development, commercial partnerships and mergers and acquisition.

“Dave is a highly engaged director who already works closely with our executive management team, so he will hit the ground running in the CEO role and support a seamless transition for the team and clients,” said William Foley, chair of Alight’s board, in a statement.

According to Alight, Guilmette worked closely with Scholl recently to plan the transition.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished during my time with Alight,” said Scholl in a statement. “We have transformed Alight into a simpler, more capital efficient company better equipped to serve our clients’ needs. I want to thank our employees for their dedication, and I wish Dave and the leadership team all the best.”

Following his appointment, Guilmette resigned from the board’s audit committee. With Scholl’s exit, the board will now have 10 directors instead of 11. The company also reaffirmed its business outlook for the second half of 2024.

“As we discussed when we released our second quarter financial results, the Board has been focused on succession planning for months,” said Foley. “Today’s announcement is the result of that work, and we are confident in Dave’s ability to jumpstart Alight’s next chapter following the completion of significant milestones including the technology transformation and divestiture of the Payroll & Professional Services business.”

Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP had pushed for leadership changes at Alight, nominating four directors to the board in February. However, those nominations were withdrawn as part of a “cooperation agreement” with the company. On May 6, Alight announced the addition of two new independent directors to the board, one of whom was Guilmette. Starboard owned 7.2% of Alight’s outstanding common stock, as of May of this year.

Based on PLANSPONSOR’s 2024 Recordkeeping Survey, Alight ranks as the third-largest defined contribution recordkeeper by both assets and participants, trailing Fidelity and Empower in both categories. PLANSPONSOR, like PLANADVISER, is owned by ISS STOXX.

«