Wealth Enhancement, EP Wealth Acquire
We’re nearing the last call for deal announcements in 2025, and several firms placed their final orders this week.
Wealth Enhancement made a splash with three deals this week, while MCF Advisors made its first acquisition since receiving a minority investment, a trend that has become increasingly common in 2025.
If there was any doubt that 2026 would continue to bring interesting RIA deals, WealthManagement.com also reported Thursday that sources familiar with a pending acquisition expect Creative Planning to acquire a United Kingdom-based RIA with $4.8 billion in AUM.
For now, read on for the deals that have been booked.
Wealth Enhancement Pens Three Deals Totaling $1.1B
Wealth Enhancement, a Minneapolis-based registered investment advisor with more than $131 billion in client assets, has agreed to acquire three firms this week located in Wisconsin, Utah and California. The companies oversee combined client assets of about $1.1 billion.
The largest firm Wealth Enhancement acquired by assets is Wealth Advocates, a hybrid RIA based in Logan, Utah, overseeing $476 million in assets.
The firm is led by John Mickelson, wealth manager, and includes Managing Partner Patrick Jenkins, along with Ammon Doman, a financial advisor, and a staff of six. They had partnered with broker/dealer CreativeOne Securities, but will now be using Wealth Enhancement Brokerage Services, according to a spokesperson.
The firm was founded in 2017 with a focus on business owners, retirees and current and former employees of the State of Utah, Intermountain Healthcare, Northrop Grumman and Utah State University. The group offers investment, tax, insurance, estate planning and income planning services.
Wealth Enhancement also announced the acquisition of RIA AEGIS Financial, which has offices in Oshkosh, Appleton and Milwaukee, Wis., overseeing $468 million in client assets.
AEGIS was founded in 1993 to provide financial planning, retirement planning, tax mitigation, estate planning and investment strategy services to families and business owners in Wisconsin.
The firm is led by President William Bowman, who joined in 2011, when the company was affiliated with Raymond James, according to BrokerCheck. AEGIS broke from Raymond James in 2019, when it went to broker/dealer Private Client Services through 2020.
“Wisconsin has been a strong growth market for us since we first entered it in 2018, and we look forward to building on that momentum,” said Jim Cahn, chief strategy officer of Wealth Enhancement, in a statement.
Wise Rhino advised AEGIS in the move.
Finally, Wealth Enhancement added Irvine, Calif.-based Spectrum Wealth Management, which has both an RIA managing $182 million in client assets and an affiliated certified public accounting firm, Putman Group.
The team, comprising one advisor, 14 financial professionals and five support staff, will relocate to Wealth Enhancement. Founder and Principal Benjamin Ross Putman leads the firm, which also includes CPAs Sanaz Afshar, Joseph Reese and Allan Ottens.
Wealth Enhancement is “particularly excited about their deep specialization in tax planning, which is a critical component of our integrated wealth management model,” CEO Jeff Dekko said in a statement.
Spectrum Wealth was founded in 2002, and its affiliated tax practice, Putnam, has been in operation since 1991.
EP Wealth Acquires to Expand in Phoenix
EP Wealth Advisors, an acquisitive Torrance, Calif.-based RIA with $41 billion in assets under management, has grown its Phoenix area footprint with the acquisition of Clearview Wealth Advisors, a planning-focused RIA with $218 million in AUM.
Clearview Wealth is led by the father-son team of Michael and Corbin Coursey, serving clients in the Phoenix metropolitan area and the Pacific Northwest.
The team will be integrated into EP Wealth’s Phoenix region under regional directors M.J. Nodilo and Adrian Larson.
The deal is EP Wealth’s ninth of 2025 to expand its base of 61 offices in 22 states. The firm sold a minority stake to Ares Management earlier this year; Ares invested alongside Berkshire Partners, EP’s existing minority equity partner.
MCF Advisors Pens First Deal Since WPCG Stake
MCF Advisors, a Lexington, Ky.-based RIA with $3.9 billion in AUM, has made its first acquisition with an agreement to buy Accredited Wealth Management, a Louisville, Ky.-based fee-only RIA with $178 million in AUM.
The deal is MCF’s first since it received an equity investment this March from Wealth Partners Capital Group and the Aspire Holdings platform of HGGC. The acquisition expands MCF’s presence in Louisville and strengthens its financial planning and investment management services.
Accredited Wealth was founded by managing partners Steve Giacobbe and Shawn Clark, who will now take the roles of senior financial advisor and partner at MCF.
DayMark Wealth Partners Sells Minority Stake to Constellation Wealth
DayMark Wealth Partners, an Ohio-based Dynasty Financial Partners member firm, announced this week that private equity firm Constellation Wealth Capital has acquired a minority stake in the Cincinnati-based RIA.
Constellation will join the ownership team that includes Mike Quin, co-founder and managing partner of the firm, which was launched in 2022. DayMark has grown from a seven-person team with $1.4 billion in AUM at its start to more than $4.5 billion. In addition to Ohio, it has offices in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois and Utah.
“The capital and strategic resources provided by CWC will allow our firm to continue on our ambitious growth path and, most importantly, extend our reach to help even more clients benefit from independent advice,” Quin said in a statement.
DayMark entered the Florida market earlier this year through recruiting a team of Wells Fargo advisors who had managed a combined $350 million in client assets at the wirehouse’s independent contractor channel FiNet.
Houlihan Lokey and Dynasty Investment Bank were the investment banking advisors to DayMark.
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