Cerity Partners Merges with Three RIAs Managing $2 Billion
Cerity Partners, a New York-based registered investment advisor with more than $206 billion in client assets, has been on an acquisition tear this week, merging with three RIAs with a combined $2 billion in client assets.
Cornerstone Capital, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based RIA with $1.4 billion in assets under management, will join Cerity, in a move that deepens the firm’s footprint in Silicon Valley.
Cornerstone was founded in 1978 under the name Petersen, Flynn & Dinsmore, and it’s owned by Brad Dinsmore, Mason Ford and M. Bradford Branson. The firm serves high-net-worth individuals and families, charitable foundations and endowments.
“As we thought about the next chapter for our clients and our colleagues, we wanted a partner who would protect that philosophy while giving us more to offer,” Dinsmore said in a statement. “In Cerity Partners, we found a firm that shares our values and gives our clients access to resources—in tax planning, estate planning and beyond—that we couldn’t offer on our own.”
Cerity has also merged with Echo Wealth Management, a Minneapolis-based RIA with $337 million in AUM and five colleagues. The deal marks Cerity’s entry into the Minneapolis market.
Echo offers tax planning capabilities, as well as estate, insurance and investment planning.
In a third deal, Cerity acquired Compass Wealth Management, an Atlanta-based RIA with about $320 million in AUM. Compass was founded in 2011 by Robert Amato and focuses on corporate executives, business owners and retirees in the Atlanta area.
“Cerity Partners allows us to preserve the personalized planning, highly customized investment management, and close client relationships that define our firm, while strengthening the operations behind the scenes and adding broader tax and estate planning expertise,” Amato said in a statement. “It also creates meaningful growth opportunities for our team.”
The move also allows Cerity to expand its presence in the Atlanta community.
This follows last week’s news that Cerity brought two advisory teams (collectively managing $1.4 billion) from Shufro Rose into its fold. The Contant-Leit and Wacht Groups of Shufo Rose & Co. will join forces under the Cerity brand.
Also last month, Cerity penned an agreement to acquire Gilbert & Cook, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based wealth management firm with about $2 billion in client assets.
Cerity, founded in 2009, has been an active acquirer in the wealth management sector and is majority-owned by the private equity firm Genstar Capital, with minority ownership by employees and Lightyear Capital.
