$7B Grimes Adds Tax Practice, Appoints New COO
This week proves another indicator that even mid-sized registered investment advisors are looking to offer adjacent wealth services, such as tax preparation and estate planning, in-house to higher-net-worth clients.
On Tuesday, Grimes & Company, a Westborough, Mass.-based RIA managing about $7 billion in assets, said it acquired the tax practice of Stevens and Ciccone Associates, PC. The move adds about 800 tax clients and introduces in-house tax planning capabilities to complement the firm’s financial planning and investment management services, said CEO Kevin Grimes, who is the son of firm founder Timothy Grimes. Stevens and Ciccone Associates, based in Needham, Mass., will continue to operate as S&C Tax Advisors.
“Having a team like S&C in-house really gives us a service advantage and an offering advantage for UHNW clients in particular, as we continue to add capabilities to service those types of clients,” Grimes said.
Grimes said the team had been considering a tax acquisition for about a year, but that S&C was a good fit for a variety of reasons, including being a second-generation team with a long runway and a desire to “build something new and unique” in the wealth space.
The CEO also said the move to bring tax preparation in-house will not exclude or end advisor relationships with external tax partners or referral networks.
“For us, it’s not one or the other—our advisors certainly have their networks with their tax professionals and other professionals, and that is a very powerful thing to have, and we don’t want to upset that,” Grimes said.
In addition to the acquisition, Grimes named Andrew Hamil as chief operating officer to oversee financial planning, insurance, tax, business operations, data and artificial intelligence, and growth teams while targeting further acquisitions and expanding trust services.
“The firm’s continued investment in expanding its capabilities, including tax planning, creates tremendous opportunities to better serve clients while building an operational foundation that supports thoughtful, long-term growth,” Hamil said in a statement.
Grimes sold a minority investment to Rise Growth Partners, the RIA investor launched by former United Capital CEO Joe Duran, in early 2025.
“Expanding into tax services and adding a seasoned executive like Andrew are meaningful investments in the firm’s future,” Duran said in a statement. “Kevin and his team continue to execute on a thoughtful growth strategy that is strengthening Grimes’ ability to serve clients across the country.”
$6.9B Sowell Launches Tax Planning and Estate Division
On Monday, another RIA, Sowell Management, announced a new team focused on estate, tax, and advanced planning for its high-net-worth families and small-business owners.
North Little Rock, Ark.-based Sowell said the team, called the Advanced Planning Group, will be available to advisors working across its Sowell Management RIA platform and its wholly-owned Cache River Private Wealth, which launched in April for clients with $5 million or more in net worth.
The division is being led by Carrie Quraishi, JD, director of Advanced Planning, and her husband, JR Quraishi, director of tax planning. The group will give advisors access to in-house estate planning, tax strategy, business succession planning, asset protection, wealth transfer planning and family legacy planning, according to the announcement.
“High-Net-Worth clients are increasingly expecting a similar level of elite service that was once the exclusive domain of family offices,” Carrie Quraishi said in a statement.
Sowell’s new divisions, including Advanced Planning Group and Cache Private Wealth, have come after founder Bill Sowell stepped down as CEO in January to become chief strategy officer, while president Daryl Seaton was elevated to the top job.
A few months later, Sowell sold a minority stake to Merchant, the New York-based private partnership that provides growth capital and other support to independent financial services firms. The investment is helping to fund Sowell’s Advisor Partnership Program, which allows the RIA’s advisors to participate in equity ownership and receive growth capital, according to the RIA.
