Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors has added registered investment advisor Pacific Pointe in a rollup partnership that adds $175 million in assets under management to the firm, BPWA announced Monday.
Pacific Pointe, based in Santa Barbara, is the fourth California location to be added to BPWA, a Beacon Pointe Advisors RIA based in Newport Beach, Calif. The expansion marks BPWA's second deal in five months and its fifth addition of an advisory firm to BPWA.
BPWA projects that it will reach nearly $1 billion in total AUM by year end, and it plans to continue its California expansion while adding to its geographic footprint in Denver, Boston and Richmond. It is 100% owned by each of the advisor partners that have joined RIA Beacon Pointe Advisors, which has AUM of $5.8 billion.
The advisor partners at BPWA do not hesitate to use the term "rollup," an industry term that other firms with a long-term home for advisors have shied away from using, according to Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors President Matt Cooper, whose Alliance for RIAs (aRIA) study group was named to Investment Advisor's IA 25 list in 2013.
"The reason that makes firms cringe is because they try to position as something they're not, and when the media calls them out on it, they get upset," Cooper said in a statement. "But the bottom line is that if we know the value we provide, and our advisor partners know it, and feel good about why they joined and how it helps them and their clients, then you can call us whatever you want as long as you acknowledge the good we're doing."
RIA-to-RIA M&A on the Upswing
The deal highlights how RIA-to-RIA deals are on the upswing. BPWA is actively looking to expand with growth-focused regional partners in the $100 million to $300 million range. BPWA has set a growth goal of one deal per quarter for the next 10 years and is already ahead of the pace it has set for itself.
