Deals & People March 11, 2024
Modern Wealth Adds $1.2B Retirement Plan Advisory
The retirement head from acquisition Beltz Ianni & Associates notes a desire to grow the firm with Modern Wealth’s additional capabilities.
Reported by Alex Ortolani
Modern Wealth Management’s sixth acquisition brings a $1.2 billion retirement plan advisory, wealth manager and third-party administrator into its practice, the firm announced Wednesday.
Beltz Ianni & Associates’ 12-person team will bring to Modern Wealth its total retirement planning capabilities and assets of $700 million, along with wealth management business representing $500 million in client assets, according to the announcement. In the deal, Monterey, California-based Modern Wealth will also bring on the firm’s third-party plan administration services, Enhanced Retirement Solutions, which will be rebranded to Modern Wealth Business.
Beltz Ianni & Associates, based in Rochester, New York, will be leaving a broker/dealer affiliation with LPL Financial LLC to join Modern Wealth’s independent registered investment advisory. The move marks the sixth acquisition by the relatively new firm since its founding in April 2023 by former Goldman Sachs and United Capital executives Gary Roth and Mike Capelle. The deal boosts the firm’s assets under management to $3 billion.
“The acquisition of Beltz Ianni not only enables our firm to serve the retirement plan management and administration needs of our business owner clients, but we’ve also added several new personal wealth management team members who will complement our growing and dynamic team,” said Jason Gordo, co-founder and president of Modern Wealth, in a statement.
Beltz Ianni & Associates’ leadership, which took over about four years ago after founders David Ianni and Fred Beltz retired, was attracted to the potential for expanded services and resources to help it grow its business, says Michelle Cannan, now managing director and head of company retirement plan services for Modern Wealth.
“We started this process about a year ago as part of succession planning and also the desire for continued growth,” Cannan says. “After a really thorough process and meeting with different companies, Modern Wealth aligned with our culture and priorities as a national firm, but with a client-first culture, which is important to us.”
“Participant education, we think, is the most important piece of the retirement plan management puzzle,” she says. “Unless employees understand the value of the retirement plan benefit, then it won’t work: You’ll have low utilization and low engagement. We want people to really understand the plan, be engaged with it, as well as for employers to have it be a really great recruiting advantage.”
Cannan also notes that participants more frequently ask questions that go beyond the 401(k) plan, including about areas such as taxes and estate planning, areas in which Modern Wealth has capabilities.
Other pieces of that retirement “puzzle” Cannan pointed to include 3(21) or 3(38) investment manager services, retirement plan provider management (such as recordkeeper selection and documentation of all plan fees), and plan administration and design, which can be aided by the firm’s in-house TPA.
The retirement head says Modern Wealth’s management is serious about cooperation across business units that will lead to growth—punctuated by a proof of concept on the second day after the transaction, when Cannan’s group received its first in-house retirement plan referral from a company in the Midwest.
“This vision that we have of cooperative growth is already taking place, even in the very early of states of being integrated with the company,” she says.
When asked about the biggest challenges to growth, Cannan notes bringing on more retirement plan specialists, because many in the industry are focused on individual wealth management. She says the firm will look to grow the specialist field with in-house training, including working with employees who already work on the employee education side.
“That’s a great way to start out in the retirement plan space, and they can work their way up over time,” she says.
Beltz Ianni & Associates’ 12-person team will bring to Modern Wealth its total retirement planning capabilities and assets of $700 million, along with wealth management business representing $500 million in client assets, according to the announcement. In the deal, Monterey, California-based Modern Wealth will also bring on the firm’s third-party plan administration services, Enhanced Retirement Solutions, which will be rebranded to Modern Wealth Business.
Beltz Ianni & Associates, based in Rochester, New York, will be leaving a broker/dealer affiliation with LPL Financial LLC to join Modern Wealth’s independent registered investment advisory. The move marks the sixth acquisition by the relatively new firm since its founding in April 2023 by former Goldman Sachs and United Capital executives Gary Roth and Mike Capelle. The deal boosts the firm’s assets under management to $3 billion.
Michelle Cannan
Beltz Ianni & Associates’ leadership, which took over about four years ago after founders David Ianni and Fred Beltz retired, was attracted to the potential for expanded services and resources to help it grow its business, says Michelle Cannan, now managing director and head of company retirement plan services for Modern Wealth.
“We started this process about a year ago as part of succession planning and also the desire for continued growth,” Cannan says. “After a really thorough process and meeting with different companies, Modern Wealth aligned with our culture and priorities as a national firm, but with a client-first culture, which is important to us.”
Resource Boost
The retirement head notes additional Modern Wealth capabilities, including more robust content and educational resources for retirement plan participants. She says in recent years, plan sponsor clients have been calling for more personalized education and content that her team did not have enough resources to staff, but that the merger will make possible.“Participant education, we think, is the most important piece of the retirement plan management puzzle,” she says. “Unless employees understand the value of the retirement plan benefit, then it won’t work: You’ll have low utilization and low engagement. We want people to really understand the plan, be engaged with it, as well as for employers to have it be a really great recruiting advantage.”
Cannan also notes that participants more frequently ask questions that go beyond the 401(k) plan, including about areas such as taxes and estate planning, areas in which Modern Wealth has capabilities.
Other pieces of that retirement “puzzle” Cannan pointed to include 3(21) or 3(38) investment manager services, retirement plan provider management (such as recordkeeper selection and documentation of all plan fees), and plan administration and design, which can be aided by the firm’s in-house TPA.
Quick Results
Modern Wealth also makes available additional wealth management opportunities due to its national footprint. When participants are seeking individual support, the firm now has a robust business to turn to, Cannan notes.The retirement head says Modern Wealth’s management is serious about cooperation across business units that will lead to growth—punctuated by a proof of concept on the second day after the transaction, when Cannan’s group received its first in-house retirement plan referral from a company in the Midwest.
“This vision that we have of cooperative growth is already taking place, even in the very early of states of being integrated with the company,” she says.
When asked about the biggest challenges to growth, Cannan notes bringing on more retirement plan specialists, because many in the industry are focused on individual wealth management. She says the firm will look to grow the specialist field with in-house training, including working with employees who already work on the employee education side.
“That’s a great way to start out in the retirement plan space, and they can work their way up over time,” she says.