Constellation Wealth Capital’s latest minority investment is with BIP Wealth, the Atlanta-based $5.5 billion RIA. According to Constellation, the stake will bolster BIP’s M&A pipeline in the Southeast and beyond.
According to BIP Wealth co-founder and CEO Bill Harris, the firm’s partnership with Constellation “will open new doors of growth in our business that will benefit our clients and our entire team,” citing their private investment and advanced planning expertise as a highlight.
Constellation, a private equity firm focused on wealth managers, was founded in 2023 by former Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg and has taken stakes in numerous firms, including the $20 billion Merit Financial,DayMark Wealth Partners, Procyon Partners and Lido Advisors, among others.
According to Heckenberg, the BIP team “checked all the boxes.”
“It’s important to us to partner with people who value partnership and client service,” he said. “Seeing their impressive organic growth and dedication to clients, we knew we wanted to link arms and help support the growth of the BIP Wealth platform in the future.”
BIP Wealth works with high-net-worth individuals, families and retirement plans, and organically grew assets under management by $725 million last year (and expects to exceed that total in 2026).
The firm was founded in 2007 and has offices in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Columbus and Peachtree Corners (all in Georgia) and expanded to Nashville in 2022. Over the past several years, BIP Wealth has also added about $1.2 billion through two acquisitions, The Money Advisor Group and Prehmus Financial, and the firm expects Constellation’s capital to accelerate inorganic growth in the region.
Heckenberg stepped down as leader of Emigrant Partners in April 2023 and began planning to raise $1 billion for a fund to buy minority stakes in RIAs and other wealth firms. He hired CFO Jack Yates (from private equity firms KPMG, GTCR and Winona Capital), Emigrant Partners alum Pat McHugh as head of investments, and Lisa Crafford, former BNY Mellon Pershing’s head of business consulting, as head of advisory.
The firm made its first deal with AlphaCore Wealth Advisory in December 2023, intending to invest between $25 million and $200 million in wealth businesses with managed assets of $1 billion to $200 billion. The firm’s majority owner is Heckenberg, and it has minority backing from Black Owl Capital Investments.
