The latest mergers, acquisitions and other corporate actions in the wealth management sector.

Mercer, River Glen
Denver-headquartered Mercer Global Advisors, a registered investment advisor, this week expanded its central US presence with the acquisition of River Glen Wealth Counselors, a wealth management firm located in West Des Moines, Iowa. The terms of the financial transactions were not disclosed.

This continues a run of acquisitions by Mercer, with the previous one announced as recently as last week.

River Glen, which was founded by Matt Busick in 2008, serves about 160 clients with assets under management of $275 million. Randy Von Fumetti, an industry veteran, brought his practice to River Glen in 2015.

“Randy and I had reached that point in our business where we had to either invest significantly to scale our business to support further growth, or, alternatively, join a firm that had already made those investments and successfully institutionalized their business," Busick said. â€śWe were introduced to David Barton, Mercer Advisors’ former CEO, who now heads up mergers and acquisitions. After many meetings with Dave and his team, we realized we shared the same mission, vision and values around serving clients.”

Busick's comments demonstrate how a need for scale to handle rising costs and client demands is a factor driving industry M&A and consolidation in the US sector.

“Matt and Randy are highly skilled wealth managers with comprehensive industry experience. They are dedicated to providing high-touch financial planning to their clients, exactly the people and organization we seek to partner with," David Barton, vice chairman, who led the acquisition of River Glen on behalf of Mercer Advisors, said.

The latest move continues a run of acquisitions by Mercer. Last week, it purchased Transitions Wealth Management (TWM), adding to its Colorado presence, and last December, Middleton Financial Management, a business operating as Brighton Financial Planning. Mercer also acquired Paragon Wealth Strategies last December, a business based in Jacksonville, Florida. See more coverage here.

Mercer Advisors operates nationally through 80 locations across the country, managing over $50 billion in client assets.