Page 36 - Investment Advisor - November 2021

Blaylock Van, an 81% Black-owned Sanctuary Wealth, since its founding
investment banking firm with a by former Merrill Lynch executives
diverse employee base, has gained in 2018, has become a major platform
success in the last year as more U.S. companies and municipalities for wealth managers who want to own, operate and grow their
recognize the value of doing business with diverse business enter- businesses while having access to economies of scale afforded by
prises. The firm has helped investment managers, pension funds wirehouses and other traditional platforms. The firm is also a
and companies gain diversity exposure through the inclusion of dealmaker, its largest a long-term strategic alliance with the
Black- and women-owned firms. Blaylock Van served as one of European asset manager Azimut Group done last November,
four Black-owned firms to lead manage a recent Citibank $2.5 bil- which gives it a competitive advantage in recruiting top advisors
lion bond issuance and has also taken part in recent deals with worldwide. Sanctuary Global also serves the Latin American
companies including Alphabet, Apple, AT&T, Bristol Myers, market, having made deals to open offices throughout the region,
Comcast, Nasdaq, Toyota Motor Credit and Wells Fargo. in addition to establishing a headquarters office in Miami.

CI Financial, one of Canada’s biggest Vestwell redefines 401(k) offer-
asset and wealth managers, has carved ings for advisors and their clients,
out a significant presence in the U.S. serving as the underlying engine
through an aggressive but tactical series of acquisitions. Over that powers workplace savings programs. Vestwell built its API-
17 months, CI has acquired 18 firms (including sub-acquisi- driven, flexible solution to support players across the retire-
tions) so far, totaling $63 billion. The CI team makes an acqui- ment plan ecosystem. A recent partnership combines Franklin
sition mutually advantageous for itself, for the acquired firm Templeton’s proprietary Goals Optimization Engine methodol-
and for clients by providing ample support to RIAs, enabling ogy with Vestwell’s record-keeping infrastructure to create an
their continued growth and a broadened tool kit for servicing entirely digital, open-architecture and cost-effective managed
clients’ needs. Even as it moves into the acquisition realm, it account solution. Living natively in Vestwell’s platform, it can
adapts its pace to what is most comfortable for each acquired automatically enroll participants into a personalized invest-
firm with respect to branding and integration. ment strategy. Vestwell also partnered with Bank of NY Mellon
to create a platform that will bring modern solutions to state-
Hightower Advisors has shifted its sponsored retirement plans. It is also fully integrated with some
business model to focus on RIA acqui- 20 payroll providers, including QuickBooks.
sitions. Hightower’s M&A strategy
identifies and invests in advisory busi-
nesses and provides them with comprehensive acceleration ser- INDIVIDUALS
vices to supercharge their growth. The M&A team seeks out
successful RIAs and groups from independent broker-dealers, Brandon Kawal, principal, Advisor Growth
with management teams that have a strong orientation to growth, Strategies, leads client engagements, thought
a collaborative spirit, a willingness to drive themselves forward leadership and research for the firm, as well as
and a strong second generation of leaders. As a result, Hightower leads research and writes The RIA Deal Room
has accelerated its dealmaking in the past 18 months, facilitating as a free educational resource for firms to
12 M&A transactions — two internal tuck-ins for Hightower busi- evaluate and understand their M&A options. The study lever-
nesses and several multibillion-dollar external acquisitions. ages actual transaction data to highlight changing dynamics
within the RIA M&A landscape, debunk misconceptions about
LPL Financial has entered into mul- deal mechanics and track industry trends. It includes data-
tiple strategic deals in the last 18 driven analysis on trends in valuations and deal structure,
months with large institutions, small broker-dealers, technol- buyer and seller perspectives on entering the market and the
ogy providers, competing wealth management firms, advisor future implications of the shifts in RIA M&A, including the
recruiting and advisor M&A. The acquisitions of Waddell and pressures of scale and succession.
Reed’s wealth management business, M&T Bank’s retail bro-
kerage and advisory business, and BMO Harris Financial Matthew Cooper, president, Beacon Pointe
Advisors propelled LPL’s assets under management past the Advisors, is the driving force behind the firm’s
$1 trillion mark. An important part of these successful acquisi- M&A team, which completes acquisitions with
tions was the 98.1% retention rate of onboarded advisors and partner offices that are focused on creating syner-
employees. Through investments back into the business and a gies, value and growth and certainty for business
mission-aligned workforce committed to advisor success, advi- owners, their clients and staff. In March 2020, he oversaw the
sor satisfaction increased by some 60 points over three years. strategic integration of Abry Partners’ minority stake in Beacon

34 INVESTMENT ADVISOR NOVEMBER 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com