Uncategorized December 26, 2023

Advisory M&A News – 12/26/23

Wealth Enhancement Group acquires Asset Management Resources; Millennium Trust acquires Maestro Health’s consumer directed benefits business; Kestra Private Wealth Services adds Mooshi Wealth Planning & Management.

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Wealth Enhancement Group Expands with the Acquisition of Asset Management Resources

Wealth Enhancement Group has acquired Asset Management Resources, LLC, an independent RIA in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The AMR team, is led by Founder and CEO J. Christopher Boyd, and will bring approximately $236 million in assets under management.

“We are excited for our clients and community to benefit from our partnership and the extensive depth of services and talent available at Wealth Enhancement Group,” said Boyd in a statement. “We envision providing the best of our organizations.”

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Since 2008, AMR has provided financial planning, wealth management, and portfolio management for those nearing or in retirement. Their addition of Asset Management increases the number of Wealth Enhancement Group offices in Massachusetts to four.

“Both of our firms are committed to helping people achieve their goals by creating a better financial services approach centered completely around our clients,” Jeff Dekko, CEO of Wealth Enhancement Group, said in a statement. “We are excited to bring Chris and his team on board.”

Millennium Trust Acquires Maestro Health’s Consumer Directed Benefits Business

PayFlex, a Millennium Trust solution, has acquired the Maestro Health consumer-directed benefits business from third-party administration technology company Marpai.

“As a leading consumer-directed benefits provider, we feature user-friendly technology and offer clients a best-in-class experience with exceptional customer service,” Millenium Trust CEO Dan Laszlo said in a statement. “This acquisition will provide that support to our new clients and reflects our strong HSA and FSA capabilities.”

The deal is part of Millennium Trust’s expansion in consumer-directed benefits following acquisitions of BRI and ProFlex earlier this year. The transaction includes a five-year relationship pursuant to which PayFlex will be the preferred provider of HSAs, FSAs and other consumer directed benefits to Marpai’s clients.

“The sale of our consumer-directed benefits business to PayFlex provides expanded service and capabilities for our clients while allowing Marpai to continue to focus on our core business of providing cost-effective solutions to self-funded employers,” Marpai CEO Damien Lamendola said in a statement.

Kestra Private Wealth Services Adds Mooshi Wealth Planning & Management

Kestra Private Wealth Services announced the addition of Mooshi Wealth Planning & Management, located in Novi, Michigan and founded by Managing Director Joseph Mooshi.

“Kestra PWS and its leadership demonstrate the same desire to deliver a best-in-class client experience for their advisers, as I do for my clients,” said Mooshi in a statement. “Joining Kestra PWS will better enable me to help individuals, business owners and their families reach their financial goals. I look forward to leveraging the firm’s resources and expertise to enhance my clients’ financial lives.”

“We are thrilled at the opportunity to support Mooshi Wealth Planning & Management in its mission to produce excellent outcomes for clients,” Rob Bartenstein, senior managing director and CEO of Kestra PWS, said in a statement. “Joseph is exemplary of the high-caliber talent we currently work with and continually seek to add to our community of like-minded advisers.”

Compliance December 22, 2023

IRS 2023 Changes List for Pre-Approved Plans Is Out

The list contains many SECURE 2.0 provisions, but includes amendments stemming from other laws as well.

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The Internal Revenue Service issued the 2023 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements for Defined Contribution Qualified Pre-approved Plans, a list of plan amendments required for plans relying on a safe harbor plan.

The IRS permits qualified plans to model themselves off of a safe harbor “pre-approved plan” as a method of obtaining initial plan approval. According to the IRS, plans using this safe harbor normally “will have fewer choices over the design of the plan. The employer must not make any modifications to the plan and can rely on the opinion letter issued to the pre-approved plan as if it were its own determination letter.”

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Since related tax and benefit laws are often updated, plans using the pre-approved model must make remedial amendments to remain in compliance with the standard pre-approved plan. The 2023 Cumulative List lays out the amendments that must be made for plans seeking approval between February 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025.

Plans have to make required amendments and apply for a new letter in their “remedial cycle.” Many of the newest changes in the 18-page document relate to provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The amendments should also account for the following SECURE 2.0 provisions, among other requirements:

  • The required minimum distribution age for participants born on or after January 1, 1951, must be increased to 73 from 72, per Section 107 of SECURE 2.0;
  • The amount that can be spent from a defined contribution plan to purchase a qualified life annuity contract was increased to $200,000 from $125,000, and the percentage maximum was removed, per Section 202;
  • Plans are now permitted to increase their involuntary cash-out limit to $7,000 from $5,000, per Section 304;
  • Victims of domestic abuse may withdraw up to $10,000 (indexed) from a DC plan without an additional 10% penalty, per Section 314; and
  • Other changes relate to the penalty-free $1,000 emergency personal expense distribution and recontribution of that amount within three years, per Section 115.

Other required amendments have their origin in separate legislation from SECURE 2.0. For example, the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 reduced the minimum age when a pension can make a distribution to a participant who is still employed by the sponsor to 59.5 from 62.

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