Arax Investment Partners, a wealth management platform backed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, has purchased Schechter Investment Advisors, a registered investment advisor with $4 billion in assets under management.
The deal is Arax’s second $1 billion-plus deal of 2025 and expands its presence in what it called a “high-growth market.” SIA is based in Birmingham, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, and has 70 employees managed by three generations of family ownership. It will merge with Arax Advisory Partners, a coalition of independent firms working with high-net-worth families, elite athletes and institutions.
The SIA deal will significantly boost Arax Advisory Partners’ client assets, which, according to its most recent Form ADV, stood at $2.8 billion. Arax also owns Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, which, when including its Ashton Thomas Securities, oversees over $8 billion in total client assets, according to a spokesperson.
According to the company website, SIA is led by CEO Marc Schechter, whose father’s uncle started the firm in 1939. Schechter grew it from about 10 employees in 2002, focused on the greater Detroit area, to a national RIA and multi-family office. The firm offers wealth and estate planning, portfolio design and management, private investments and tax strategies, among other areas.
“The Schechter team is known for thoughtful, multi-generational financial planning and sophisticated investment solutions—exactly the type of partner we are looking for as the Arax platform scales,” Arax CEO Haig Ariyan said in a statement.
Schechter also runs a life insurance business, which will remain a separate, independent entity.
The news follows Arax’s January acquisition of Cedrus Financial, a Littleton, Colo.-headquartered RIA with about $1 billion in client assets.
