Investment bank and consultancy DeVoe & Company followed up its annual M&A and succession summit in Chicago last week with another declaration of the market’s strength. According to its third-quarter tracking released Friday, DeVoe saw 94 transactions, a record for the quarter, putting 2025 on pace for the most acquisitions in a calendar year.
Digging further, DeVoe highlighted the private equity players continuing to influence and drive consolidation. In the third quarter, private equity firm investors included StonePoint Capital and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which took a majority stake in OneDigital. Additionally, Peakline Partners acquired Monticello Associates, and Madison Dearborn Partners acquired the wealth management assets, including Wealthspire, of Aon.
Private equity certainly played a role in several transactions reported by WealthManagement.com this week, including Captrust’s acquisition of a $3.1 billion New York-based firm, Mariner’s independent division’s hiring of one of LPL Financial’s Commonwealth teams, and Beacon Pointe’s acquisition of a $944 million Boston-area RIA. In a curveball to that trend, a strategic acquirer also got in the mix to bolster its wealth presence, with ESL Federal Credit Union, a Rochester, N.Y.-based financial institution, acquiring Alesco Advisors.
Speaking of curveballs—it is playoff time in baseball, after all—this week’s round-up starts with a strategy move outside the usual acquisition news.
$8.2 RIA Bahnsen Group Launches Institutional Advisory Division
The Bahnsen Group, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based Hightower affiliate managing $8.2 billion in client assets, has launched an institutional advisory division.
TBG Institutional Advisory Services will operate as a dedicated team within The Bahnsen Group, focusing on investing for non-profit organizations, universities, foundations and endowments.
In a model increasingly popular in the institutional space, the team will serve as an outsourced chief investment officer for clients with $10 million to $100 million of investable assets.
“This initiative is about organizing resources and focusing on how we can be a fully-equipped partner to serve this segment of the institutional marketplace,” David Bahnsen, managing partner and chief investment officer, The Bahnsen Group, said in a statement “Our private wealth DNA gives us a lot of access to opportunities here, but we want to add the needed institutional DNA to be a first class partner for these types of clients.”
Robert Graham, a private wealth advisor, and Kenny Molina, the firm’s director of investment solutions, will lead the new institutional division.
The Bahnsen Group was created by a team that broke away from Morgan Stanley in 2015.
IFP Joins Firms Adding Commonwealth Advisors
Independent Financial Partners, a Tampa-based broker/dealer and RIA, reported that it added 10 new advisors in the third quarter, including its first team to join from LPL Financial’s Commonwealth.
IFP stated that its recruiting efforts netted $400 million in client assets and $5 million in annual revenue.
Among the new class was John Sammut of Sammut Wealth Management, who moved from Commonwealth, saying that the LPL acquisition earlier this year “was the perfect opportunity to evaluate what was right for our firm and, more importantly, what was best for my clients.”
IFP said Sammut’s was the first of a “broader migration” of Commonwealth advisors to its business, announcing that it has seven more Commonwealth advisors in the pipeline to join in the fourth quarter.
The firm said that the seven advisors and one Osaic defector represent over $8 million in expected annual revenue.
IFP specializes in RIAs with assets ranging from $250 million to $600 million. Its director of recruiting, Justin Kain, said the third quarter was the firm’s strongest recruiting period to date, and the fourth quarter is shaping up to be even stronger.
New RIA Launches with Mariner Independent
A new RIA, XMC Wealth Management, has launched with Mariner Independent, formed by two former Choreo advisors.
Chad Tramp and Scott Hitchcock, along with senior associate Jodi Baker, form the new firm, which has offices in Des Moines, Iowa and Vashon, Wash., and has $260 million in AUM.
“Their move embodies the true spirit of independence: building a business on their own terms, guided by their values and commitment to clients,” Rob Sandrew, Mariner’s recently appointed head of the independent channel, wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
The firm offers investment management, financial planning, tax and estate planning, and insurance analysis.
“In providing solutions to our clients, we have partnered with Mariner, which allows us to focus more on what truly matters—understanding our clients and providing solutions to address their concerns,” the firm wrote on its website.
LPL Adds Paddock and Pine Wealth to Linsco Channel
LPL Financial, the $1.9 trillion brokerage and advisory firm based in San Diego, has added another advisor team to its Linsco W-2 employee channel with the addition of Stephen Carleton and Tom Niles.
Carleton and Niles are moving to Linsco from Janney Montgomery Scott, where they managed about $330 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets. Their new firm will be Paddock and Pine Wealth Partners, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The duo has worked together for 10 years, with Carleton focused on high-net-worth clients and families, and Niles specializing in pre-retiree financial planning and management.
According to the announcement, the pair was “looking for more autonomy and flexibility,” along with Linsco’s marketing, service, and technology support, as well as LPL’s size and scope of capabilities.
