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Industry Spotlight > Mergers and Acquisitions

Adviser Investments to Merge With Ropes Wealth Advisors

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What You Need to Know

  • Together, Adviser Investments and Ropes Wealth will manage almost $15 billion in assets and have more than 185 employees.
  • The management of both groups will own the combined firm in partnership with global growth equity investment firm Summit Partners.
  • The entity will be the the preferred provider of wealth management services to global law firm Ropes & Gray.

Adviser Investments and Ropes Wealth Advisors are combining their wealth management businesses to provide customized wealth solutions through a “planning-first, fiduciary-only model.”

Adviser Investments is an independent registered investment advisor that serves families, businesses, foundations and institutions. Started 30 years ago, the company says it has more than 5,000 clients across the U.S., with offices in multiple locations including Boston, Dallas and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ropes Wealth, an advisory firm supporting families, trusts and institutions, was created in 2013 and became an RIA in 2015. Previously a wholly owned subsidiary of the global law firm Ropes & Gray, Ropes Wealth will continue to have its offices in Boston’s Prudential Tower and “maintain close ties to its former parent company, acting as the preferred provider of wealth management services to Ropes & Gray clients and partners,” Ropes Wealth and Adviser said.

The deal, which includes $6 billion in Ropes Wealth assets being acquired by Adviser Investments, is expected to close in July, an Adviser Investments spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday.

The management of both groups will own the combined firm in partnership with global growth equity investment firm Summit Partners, which, in 2020, made a growth capital investment in Adviser to support its national expansion.

Adviser declined to say if Summit made or plans to make an additional investment as part of the new deal. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed beyond what was included in the press release Adviser and Ropes Wealth jointly released on Tuesday.

The combination will expand “advisory capabilities for both firms [and] reinforces shared strengths in serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts and endowments,” the firms said.

Together, Adviser and Ropes Wealth will manage almost $15 billion in client assets and have more than 185 employees, including wealth advisors, portfolio managers, fiduciary and financial planning specialists and client service professionals who focus on high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients across the U.S.

Their combined services will include financial, tax and estate planning, along with institutional-quality investment management within public and private markets and across active, passive and tactical investment strategies.

The combined company will “yield enhanced capabilities and new services for clients of both firms,” they said.

Noting that Ropes Wealth has a “deep bench of advisors,” Mario Ramos, Adviser Investments CEO, said in a statement, “Their expertise in trust, estate and tax planning will be a game-changing addition to our wealth management platform.

“With this combination, we will deepen our leadership position serving wealth management clients with complex planning needs,” Ramos added. “Equally important, this transaction reinforces our role as one of the leading merger partners of choice for RIA firms and other independent wealth management firms across the country.”

Pointing out that the two firms were a “cultural and strategic match,” Michelle Knight, Ropes Wealth CEO and chief economist, said in a statement, “I look forward to all that we can achieve together with a combined team, enhanced technology, a shared commitment to employee development and the deep resources to support industry-leading growth and a personalized service model.”

In related news, Brenda Diana and Martin Hall, co-chairs of the private client group at Ropes & Gray, will also join the Adviser Investments management team, as chief fiduciary officer and managing director, respectively. “Both were instrumental in the launch and growth of Ropes Wealth Advisors,” the firms said.

Diana and Hall will also continue to offer legal services through a new law firm specializing in domestic and international estate, tax and charitable planning, estate settlement and fiduciary administration, the companies added.

 (Image: Shutterstock)


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