Merit Financial Advisors, a Georgia-based financial advisory firm specializing in financial planning and wealth management solutions for high-net-worth individuals, families, and those navigating life transitions, announced it has acquired Sanctuary Wealth Management and Fiduciary Services (FS). This deal enables Merit to establish a presence in Idaho and grow its assets collectively by $1.6 billion.
Sanctuary – in working with private clients – specializes in investment advisory and portfolio management. Along with these services, the firm supports corporate clients with various retirement and investment solutions, including 401(k) plans. And FS, which is a subsidiary of Sanctuary, specializes in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) where they serve as transactional and ongoing ESOP trustees for clients.
Sanctuary’s collaboration with Merit will enable its team to enhance its back-office and administrative support and leverage Merit’s robust technology offerings for its clients. And Merit will also be able to expand its offering for corporate clients with the addition of ESOPs. All three owners of the firm, Brett Robison, Gene Clay Esplin, and Joel Phillips, will be taking on the role of Wealth Manager at Merit and will be joined by the rest of their team.
This is Merit’s 34th acquisition since taking a minority investment in December 2020 from Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG) and a group of strategic investors led by HGGC’s Aspire Holdings platform. And this is also Merit’s second-largest acquisition to date. Last month, Merit acquired Hershey Wealth Advisors, which expanded Merit’s assets by $233 million and added its fifth office in Pennsylvania.
Alaris Acquisitions, an M&A advisory firm specializing exclusively in the wealth management industry, acted as the advisor for this transaction. The financial and legal terms of the deal were not disclosed.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are incredibly optimistic about the future and the enhanced services we will be able to provide as a result of this merger. Our collaboration with Merit opens up a world of possibilities, and we can’t wait to explore them with our clients.”
– Brett Robison
“We are regularly working to strengthen Merit by expanding our ability to serve more clients within the West Coast, a goal we’ve achieved through our partnership with Sanctuary Wealth Management and the Fiduciary Services teams. With more than 20 years of experience serving high-net-worth clients and corporate clients, Brett, Clay, Joel, and their team will help elevate our expertise in these areas. Partnering with Fiduciary Services also allows us to continue to build out our corporate plan offerings. Merit is committed to partnering with leaders who bring deep industry knowledge, Sanctuary and Fiduciary Services has proven to meet that standard.”
– Tait Lane, Managing Principal and Partner at Merit
