The engagement of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pop megastar Taylor Swift isn’t the only relationship making headlines in the wealth management industry this week. MAI Capital Management says it has formed a strategic partnership with Evoke Advisors, a Los Angeles-based RIA serving ultra-high-net-worth clients through a family office-style approach.
Together, the combined firm will manage $60 billion across more than 30 offices nationwide. Among their shared clients are highly paid professional athletes and entertainers — although neither Swift nor Kelce is among them.
“At least not yet! We’d love to serve both of them, of course,” Rick Buoncore, chairman and CEO at MAI, told ThinkAdvisor during an interview Wednesday. “With our combined capabilities, we’d do a fantastic job.”
David Hou, Evoke's co-founder and managing partner, noted that existing and future clients of both firms will benefit from a broader, more integrated platform of services — including financial planning, investment management, retirement planning, family office capabilities and institutional consulting.
“We founded Evoke with a clear vision to create a client-focused organization,” Hou said. “We went through an in-depth search process, and MAI really stood out for a number of reasons, including their shared culture of putting clients first. This partnership provides both firms with the opportunity to enhance our abilities to best serve clients and attract the best advisors.”
MAI, which traces its roots to golf legend Arnold Palmer and his business agent, Mark McCormack, represents more than 800 professional athletes, along with celebrities, musicians and media executives. Its partnership with Evoke Advisors is its 14th deal since 2024.
The Evoke brand will be maintained as the UHNW specialist wing of MAI following the merger, Hou said. He cited MAI’s “scale, resources and vision” as key drivers of the partnership.
“It’s about enhancing capabilities and providing the highest level of service possible for our clients,” Buoncore said. “This partnership underscores the combined firm’s shared commitment to becoming the preeminent destination for clients and the fiduciary-minded advisors who serve them.”
Many of Evoke's clients work in private equity, early and late stage venture capital, investment management, real estate and technology. They are also tied to family offices, foundations and endowments.
Buoncore noted that Evoke’s focus on the ultra-wealthy will “nicely complement” MAI's capabilities in the high-net-worth marketplace, allowing the combined entity to deliver highly integrated services across the wealth management spectrum.
Other key developments on the horizon include the launch of a trust administration company, he said, as well as the opportunity to bring Evoke’s family office-style services further down market through MAI’s technology and scale.
In addition, Buoncore and Hou said, the combined firm will gain operational efficiencies by centralizing its infrastructure, integrating shared resources across technology, compliance, marketing and investment operations.
“MAI was founded more than 50 years ago with a simple belief — that athletes and entertainers deserve high class financial guidance,” Joe McLean, managing partner of family office and sports and entertainment at MAI, said in a statement.
“Today, in combination with Evoke, we’re building one of the nation’s premier family office platforms, serving both the sports and entertainment world and the broader UHNW community with the same dedication and precision,” McLean said.
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Pictured: Rick Buoncore and David Hou
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