Deals & People August 28, 2023

Goldman Sachs Sells Personal Financial Management Unit to Creative Planning

The transaction is expected to close in the year’s fourth quarter.

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The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced the sale of its United Capital Financial Partners Inc. division to Creative Planning LLC, the retirement plan advisory and wealth manager. The unit now called Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management was acquired in 2019 for $750 million. It now has $245 billion in combined assets under management and advisement.

The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2023. Creative’s wealth management teams will continue to have access to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s investment solutions and services. In July, Creative Planning reported it has started a multi-billion-dollar strategic custody relationship with Goldman Sachs’ adviser solutions platform. Creative Planning advisers received access to Goldman Sachs Adviser Solutions “institutional grade” custody solutions. The services included GSAS’ middle and back office for alternative investments, electronic lending platform, advanced analytics and other product offerings.

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Goldman made the sale of United Financial Partners Inc., CEO David Solomon said at the time, to enhance its private wealth offerings through its Ayco personal finance and workplace division, bringing more scale to wealth management solutions with “access to the intellectual capital and investment capabilities of Goldman Sachs.”

Goldman Sachs has since confirmed it is looking to pivot, moving away from direct investment and management of smaller personal financial management to focus on ultra-high-net-worth clients, as well as providing third-party services to the consolidating RIA space.

“This transaction is progress toward executing the goals and targets we outlined at our Investor Day in February,” Marc Nachmann, Goldman Sachs’ global head of asset and wealth management, said in a statement. “It is margin accretive to Asset & Wealth Management and allows us to focus on the execution of our premier ultra-high-net-worth wealth management and workplace growth strategy and to serve HNW investors through RIA and other wealth management clients, such as Creative Planning.”

“Building on our existing custody relationship with Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions, an expanded partnership with Goldman Sachs is a natural, strategic fit,” Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We welcome the talented advisers from PFM as we remain committed to being the leading advisor in the independent space. Together, we will offer high-net-worth investors comprehensive planning and a broad set of solutions related to wealth and investment management.”

During an investor day earlier this year, Goldman Sachs outlined its intentions to further expand its proprietary wealth avenues, including Private Wealth Management, workplace services (Ayco), related private banking and lending operations and Marcus Savings.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC serves as the financial adviser, while Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP provides legal counsel to Goldman Sachs.

Deals & People August 28, 2023

Advisory M&A

Creative Planning adds CTB Financial Services; TFS Wealth Management joins Pensionmark; Highland Private Wealth sub-acquires Trellis Advisors; and more.

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Creative Planning Acquires CTB Financial Services

Creative Planning has acquired CTB Financial Services Ltd., a registered investment adviser based in Minneapolis.

By incorporating CTB’s offerings, Overland Park, Kansas-based Creative Planning intends to enhance its provision of tax-efficient investment strategies and expand its geographic reach.

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“We are excited to welcome CTB Financial Services into the Creative Planning family,” Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning’s CEO, said in a statement. “Their proven proficiency in wealth management and tax planning aligns with our mission of offering holistic, client-centric financial solutions.”

Creative Planning’s previous acquisition took place in June, when it acquired BerganKDV, a professional services firm headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. As of December 31, 2022, Creative Planning has $210 billion in combined assets under management.

TFS Wealth Management Joins Pensionmark as a World Insurance Associates LLC Company

World Insurance Associates LLC announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Tomorrow’s Financial Services Inc., based in Lincroft, New Jersey.

TFS will join Pensionmark, World’s financial services division led by CEO Troy Hammond. The acquisition brings an additional $5.5 billion of wealth assets under management and increases the number of financial advisers in the network to 307.

Founded in 1968, TFS offers a comprehensive suite of services for financial planners and wealth management advisers. Included in the acquisition are TFS Securities Inc., TFS Insurance Agency Inc. and TFS Mortgage Corp. Inc.

Thomas Hyland will continue in his leadership role as the president of TFS, and the TFS management and staff team will remain in place.

Hightower Facilitates Highland Private Wealth’s Sub-Acquisition of Trellis Advisors

Hightower announced it facilitated a sub-acquisition on behalf of Highland Private Wealth Management, its advisory business based in Bellevue, Washington, of Trellis Advisors LLC.

An RIA firm based in Ellensburg, Washington, Trellis oversees more than $470 million in assets under management, bringing Highland’s total AUM to $1.9 billion.

Trellis hopes to achieve scale by connecting with Hightower’s back- and middle-office functions. Hightower offers 135 advisory businesses in 35 states. As of June 30, Hightower’s assets under management were approximately $131 billion.

“We have known Highland for years, and we have similar core values of integrity and objectivity,” Ray Gilmour, founder of Trellis, said in a statement. “We both take a holistic approach to comprehensive wealth planning for our clients and offer parallel services to build and nurture a client service offering that can adapt to evolving needs.”

Apollon Wealth Management Brings in Piershale Financial Group

Apollon Wealth Management has added Piershale Financial Group, based in the Greater Chicago region with $270 million in assets under management.

Piershale, which will now do business as Piershale Financial Group of Apollon, is led by Michael Piershale, the company president with more than 30 years of industry experience. Wealth advisers Ben Barzideh and Matt Nadeau will also join Apollon.

“We are looking forward to growing our firm within the Apollon family and continuing to provide our clients with the excellent customer service they have come to know, supported by Apollon’s resources,” Piershale said in a statement.

Apollon is a leading full-service wealth management firm and will provide Piershale clients with access to its technology, investment solutions and service team.

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