Mesirow to Acquire LeafHouse Financial Advisors

Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. will acquire LeafHouse Financial Advisors LLC, including the FlexFiduciary and InvestBuild business lines, from investment solutions provider LeafHouse Financial Group LLC. Following the transaction close—expected in the year’s third quarter—LeafHouse’s advisory business will operate as part of Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, which offers outsourced ERISA fiduciary services, investment due diligence, reporting, and custom default solutions for retirement plans, health savings accounts and individual retirement accounts.

“LeafHouse significantly enhances our fiduciary solutions platform by expanding our distribution reach while reinforcing our long-standing commitment to fiduciary excellence,” said Ketan Shah, Mesirow’s chief strategy officer and general counsel, in a statement. “This transaction reflects our strategy of investing in businesses that align culturally, strengthen our capabilities and position Mesirow for long-term, sustainable growth in attractive markets.”

Mesirow’s outsourced fiduciary solutions service nearly 10,000 financial advisers, and the firm oversees $115.2 billion in assets under management and advisement, as of March 31. According to Mesirow, the acquisition will take its AUM to approximately $138 billion.

“By combining LeafHouse’s adviser-centric approach with Mesirow’s institutional scale and technology infrastructure, we’re creating a stronger, more versatile platform for the retirement marketplace at meaningful and growing scale,” said Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions President Michael Annin in a statement. “Advisers and plan sponsors will benefit from enhanced service flexibility, improved data integration over time, and the resources of a firm that has been committed to fiduciary responsibility for decades.”

According to Leafhouse, clients and advisers will experience continuity throughout the transition, remaining open to new clients and advisers even after the transaction closes. FlexFiduciary and InvestBuild will continue their day-to-day operations, investment strategy implementation and client support.

The transaction allows LeafHouse to continue developing and expanding its technology solutions for financial advisers, recordkeepers, trust companies, asset managers and institutional partners, according to the announcement. In conjunction with the transaction, Mesirow will make a strategic investment in LeafHouse Financial Services to support its ongoing technology development.

“This next chapter enables each organization to focus on what it does best,” said Todd Kading, LeafHouse’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Mesirow is built to scale fiduciary solutions. LeafHouse is built to create technology that helps advisers and institutions operate more effectively, communicate better, and make more informed decisions. This is where we are focused, and Mesirow’s strategic investment in LeafHouse Financial Services reflects their confidence in the technology we are building.”