Broad-based investor group shares a commitment to provide the highest standard of financial care to clients and continue to invest in the Mercer Advisors platform
Mercer Advisors, a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) with Assets Under Management (AUM) of approximately $48 billion as of April 30th, 2023, announced that it is expanding its set of strategic investors, by adding a new investor, Altas Partners (“Altas”). Altas joins Mercer Advisors’ current strategic investors, Genstar Capital and Oak Hill Capital, and over 300 Mercer Advisors employees who own equity in the company. The transaction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2023.
Mercer Advisors is a leading national fiduciary wealth-management firm that provides a family office for families ranging from mass affluent to ultra-high-net-worth, and serves a spectrum of institutional clients, including companies, endowments, and foundations. Based in Denver, Mercer Advisors has a U.S. footprint of over 80 locations and almost 900 employees. Founded in 1985, Mercer Advisors differentiates itself as a unified and integrated wealth manager serving investors as a fiduciary and providing a broad range of in-house services. These services are tailored to individual clients through a “One Team” approach, including financial planning, investment management, estate planning, tax strategy and preparation, insurance solutions, and trustee services.
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“We are excited to welcome Altas Partners as a strategic investor,” said Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors. “We have had an outstanding partnership with Genstar and Oak Hill for many years and chose Altas as our newest strategic investor because they believe in our mission, purpose, and strategy and are committed to support continued investment in capabilities that will allow us to enhance the way we serve our clients.”
Welling added, “We are unabashedly client-focused first, second, and always. Each year we continue to make significant investments in our people, new services, new technology, and new offerings, all geared to serve clients better and drive our future growth. With over 300 employee-owners representing over one-third of our employees, we are proud to have the broadest number and percentage of employee ownership in the firm’s history, which is noteworthy in the independent RIA industry. Our strategic investors have supported our vision to expand ownership opportunities to all full-time employees and beyond the common elite and exclusive “partners only” model that is still prevalent in the RIA industry.”
“Mercer Advisors is an exceptional company serving a large and loyal clientele,” said Paul Emery, Partner at Altas. “Through its leadership, operational excellence and strategic acquisitions, Mercer Advisors has rapidly scaled and established a leading position in a fragmented industry, all while staying true to its client-centric culture. This investment aligns extremely well with our distinctive strategy of identifying one or two high quality businesses each year that we believe are positioned to grow meaningfully and deliver lasting value to our partners. We are thrilled to help fuel Mercer Advisors’ continued growth alongside the Company’s existing strategic investors, Genstar and Oak Hill, and in close partnership with Dave Welling and team.”
Mercer Advisors’ AUM has grown dramatically, from less than $5.7 billion in 2015, to $16.5 billion at the time of Mercer Advisor’ last recapitalization in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $48 billion today. The firm has invested heavily in enhancing services for its clients, including expanding its investment offerings and platform, expanding its wealth management professionals in 80+ locations, adding new talent and expertise to its estate and tax planning teams, and investing considerably in its technology platform. Mercer Advisors also added SRI and ESG capabilities to investment offerings and is one of the first independent RIAs to be a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing. Mercer Advisors is widely recognized as one of the leading wealth management firms in the United States, including being named a 2022 Top 100 RIA by Barron’s, a 2022 50 Fastest Growing RIAs by Financial Advisor, and Wealth Management Industry Awards, i.e., “The Wealthies,” won by Dave Welling as CEO of the Year and Kara Duckworth as a Rising Star. Mercer Advisors has also won Wealthies in the Thought Leadership category for Mercer 2030, a company-wide program created to fulfill the mission of becoming a sustainable organization while contributing positively to the communities it serves. Since 2016, Mercer Advisors has completed 75 acquisitions that expanded its footprint, talent, and expertise.
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Tony Salewski, Managing Partner of Genstar, said, “We are grateful for the partnership with Mercer Advisors, and the entire management team, as they have built a leading wealth management platform, growing their assets from approximately $5.7 billion to $48 billion, since our original investment in 2015. Importantly, as Mercer Advisors has grown, it has never sacrificed its commitment to serving its clients and helping them achieve their financial goals. We are excited to continue as investors with Oak Hill and Altas as Mercer Advisors embarks on yet another phase of robust growth.”
Steve Puccinelli, Managing Partner of Oak Hill, said, “Mercer Advisors has demonstrated consistent performance and continues to have an extensive runway for sustainable, accelerated growth. We are thrilled to continue this journey with Dave and the management team, Altas, and Genstar. We look forward to being part of their growth as the firm further identifies avenues to enhance its comprehensive wealth management services and rapidly attracts new clients.”
Raymond James served as a lead financial advisor, and Paul, Weiss served as legal counsel to Mercer Advisors on the transaction. Mercer Advisors management and employees were also supported by Katzke & Morgenbesser LLP as legal counsel and Jamieson Corporate Finance US LLC as an advisor. Goldman Sachs served as a financial advisor, and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Altas Partners on the transaction.
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