Advisory M&A News – 8/18/25

RWA Wealth Acquires Moirai Wealth Management

RWA Wealth Partners LLC, an independent and boutique wealth management firm with $18 billion in client assets, acquired Moirai Wealth Management LLC, a San Francisco-based independent registered investment adviser with $344 million in assets under management.

Adding Moirai’s four team members brings RWA’s California staff to a total of 14.

“RWA is a nationally recognized firm with an excellent reputation in the family office sector. Joining this organization will enable us to expand our expertise in investment management, tax, and trust and estate planning, while collaborating with an exceptional team,” said Karen M. Schmid, Moirai’s founder. “This is an exciting day for both our firm and our clients.”

RWA plans to open a new office in San Francisco this fall; its eight current office locations include California cities San Rafael and Costa Mesa.

NFP Acquires Pilot Benefits Group

NFP Corp., a business solutions company and subsidiary of Aon PLC, announced its acquisition of Pilot Benefits Group LLC, a Melville, New York-based employee benefits broker.

Josh Senders and Ben Senders, principals in Pilot, will be senior vice presidents at NFP and report to Chris Feneli, managing director of benefits for NFP’s Northeast region.

“This is a great strategic move for us and I’m looking forward to seeing how Josh, Ben and their team build on their successes in the tri-state area and help us deliver even more value to employers and their employees,” said Kate Henry, president of NFP’s Northeast region, in a statement.

The Senders family has managed Pilot for more than 60 years.

Sanctuary Wealth Partners With UBS Breakaway Firm

Sanctuary Wealth, a hybrid registered independent adviser, announced that Dial Square Private Wealth, an ultra-high-net-worth firm, has joined its network of partner firms. Dial Square, an Orange County, California-based breakaway from UBS, has $1.2 billion in total client assets. The co-founders of Dial Square, Jim Chiate and Tony Guinane, first partnered in 2003 at Merrill Lynch and then brought their practice to UBS in 2013.

“Going independent was not a quick decision,” Chiate said in a statement. “While we could have easily moved to another traditional wirehouse or private bank, once we understood the evolution of the independent space over the last decade, we couldn’t ignore the value independence would provide to our clients. After having our eyes opened, Sanctuary became the obvious choice. They speak our language and truly understand our business, as well as where we want to take it.”

Dial Square announced that Owen Galasso will serve as a vice president and registered operations manager, and Nazgol Nekoomaram will serve as a vice president and wealth associate.

Over the past year, Sanctuary has partnered with 16 firms with more than $10 billion in total client assets.

Mubadala Acquires CI Through Take-Private Transaction

Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset management subsidiary of the Mubadala Investment Co., completed a take-private transaction to acquire CI Financial Inc., an asset and wealth management company, for C$12.1 billion ($8.76 billion).

With the acquisition, Mubadala Capital now manages, advises and administers for clients and limited partners more than $430 billion in combined assets through its asset managers and strategic partners, including CI and its affiliates.

CI will operate independently under its current corporate structure, strategy, brand names and management team, and its headquarters remains in Toronto. The transaction also allows CI to continue the expansion of Corient Private Wealth LLC, its U.S. subsidiary.

Messick Peacock & Associates Joins Corient

Messick Peacock & Associates, a Dallas-based advisory group for high-net-worth clients, which has $1.54 billion in assets under management, is joining the wealth management firm Corient Private Wealth LLC.

Kurt MacAlpine, a partner in and CEO of Corient, said in the announcement that Chris Messick and David Peacock, the co-founders of Messick Peacock, and their team “exemplify the client-first, collaborative approach that’s at the heart of our culture.”

Corient has 260 partners and more than 1,300 employees managing about $197.1 billion in client assets.