Goldman to Buy United Capital for $750M
The new owner, which has $500 billion in wealth assets under supervision, expects the deal to close in the third quarter.
Goldman Sachs confirmed last week’s rumors and said early Thursday that it was buying RIA United Capital for $750 million in cash.
The Wall Street firm sees United Cap, which has a 220-strong financial advisor network with about $23.4 billion in assets and a white-label wealth management platform used by RIAs with $25 billion in assets, as supporting its ability to serve mass-affluent and wealthier clients with digital and in-person services.
“We have a leading wealth management franchise … , which will serve as a cornerstone of our business as we execute on our long-term strategy to offer clients solutions across the wealth spectrum,” according to Goldman Chairman & CEO David Solomon.
“United Capital will help accelerate this strategy by broadening our reach, allowing more clients to access the intellectual capital and investment capabilities of Goldman Sachs,” he explained.
The new owner — which has $500 billion in assets under supervision through its Private Wealth Management unit; workplace financial counseling platform, Ayco; and digital consumer finance platform, Marcus — expects the deal to close in the third quarter.
As part of the deal, United Capital founder and CEO Joe Duran will join Goldman Sachs, as will United Capital’s employees and advisors.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, which did not estimate the deal’s price.
One of Investment Advisor’s 25 industry VIPs of 2019, Duran told advisors at an industry event in January that they should think about “what you do in terms of the client experience and deliver it” accordingly. “Value is perception, not reality,” he said. “Price is fact.”
— Check out Joe Duran: 4 Ways to Show Clients You’re ‘Worth It’ on ThinkAdvisor.