The renamed firm has agreed to acquire a Chicago-based wealth manager. The move is part of a continued M&A trend in the North American market.

Cerity Partners, the US wealth manager that recently changed its name from HPM Partners, is merging with Chicago-based Blue Prairie Group, an investment firm. The deal means that Cerity will now oversee more than $21 billion in client money.

Blue Prairie Group is a fee-only registered investment advisor serving retirement plan sponsors, foundations, endowments and private clients.

The purchase price of the deal was not disclosed in Cerity's statement yesterday. This publication has sought details and may update in due course.

The transaction is part of a wider trend of wealth management M&A in which RIAs and other organizations have been bought as part of a consolidation trend. Drivers vary: firms' founders want to retire and find an exit for their business; wealth firms want scale to handle regulatory costs, or to spread their brands.

“Combining with Cerity Partners was a clear next step for our firm as we both look to expand and enhance our offerings,” Matt Gnabasik, founder of Blue Prairie Group, said.

As part of the merger, Ty Parrish, managing partner of Blue Prairie Group, will also take on the role of practice leader of the Retirement Plan Services Group.
 
Cerity Partners was founded in 2009 and is run as a private partnership.

Figures issued in January this year showed that more US-registered investment advisors were bought and sold during the fourth quarter of last year and average deal sizes continued to grow. There was a total of 44 consummated transactions in the final three months of 2018, which means that last year was the sixth straight record year of RIA dealflow, according to ECHELON Partners, a wealth management capital firm.