Jason Gordo, co-founder and president of Modern Wealth Management.
Modern Wealth Management, a Monterey, California-based RIA, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Clearwater, Florida-based Flaharty Asset Management.
Led by Shon Flaharty and Hunter Orr, Flaharty Asset Management has 18 employees, including nine advisors, and oversees about $1.1 billion across advisory and brokerage assets. The firm serves clients from offices in Clearwater and Punta Gorda, Florida.
The acquisition expands Modern Wealth's presence in Florida. Following Modern Wealth's April acquisition of South Florida-based Legacy Wealth Management, the addition of Flaharty Asset Management establishes a presence in the greater Tampa Bay market.
Flaharty Asset Management is Modern Wealth Management's 22nd acquisition to date and follows the recent addition of Brown & Co. in Colorado. This is the firm's fourth acquisition in the first half of 2026, totaling $3.6 billion for the year to date. Modern Wealth Management, which manages more than $14 billion in assets across 20 offices, was co-founded by former United Capital executives Gary Roth, Mike Capelle and Jason Gordo.
Gordo, president of Modern Wealth Management, told ThinkAdvisor that the RIA is "continuously exploring potential M&A deals with the right partners."
Gordo said this deal was about more than just geography.
"It's no secret that Florida's expanding demographics of high-net-worth individuals, business owners and retirees is attractive, but it's also a hotbed of talented firms [that] align with our outlook on where we believe the industry is headed," he said.
Gordo said the real danger that Modern Wealth Management sees in today's market is staying small.
"Independent firms are drowning in regulatory paperwork," he said. "By scaling quickly, we absorb those burdens centrally, so our local advisors can actually spend more time with clients, not less."
The RIA is intentional and deliberate in who it chooses to acquire, said Gordo.
"We don't buy firms to change them," he said. "We partner with firms that already share our DNA. They're like-minded professionals who want better tools for their clients, growth opportunities for their teams and equity alignment with a larger, scaled firm."
Modern Wealth President Jason Gordo. Courtesy photo
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