You Work Hard for Your Clients.
Partner with Us and We’ll Work Hard for You.
You put a lot into building your RIA.
So, when it comes to RIA succession planning or reaching the next step of growth, you want to know you’ll get what you’re worth, your staff will thrive, and above all, your clients will be well cared for. Whether you’re thinking about retiring or becoming part of a firm with more resources for growth, talk to Mercer Advisors.
Why Come to Mercer Advisors for Your Next Chapter?
Our family office services, like in-house estate planning and tax planning and returns, are big reasons why many owners come to us when considering selling an RIA.
We offer more services and expertise than most RIAs in the industry—including financial planning, estate planning, investment planning, tax planning and preparation, and corporate trustees—all under one roof.
You get a team of in-house investment strategists, CPAs1, estate planning attorneys2, and trust specialists to help manage your clients’ wealth, so you can offer more high-quality services than ever before. In fact, each Mercer Advisors client with more than $1.5 million in assets under our management receives a complimentary estate plan.
From the very beginning, Mercer Advisors has held itself to the highest of standards to always act in our clients’ best interests. We have, and always will, act in a fiduciary capacity.
While most wealth management companies choose only one type of valuation method for RIA acquisitions, we triangulate three methods to derive an industry-leading offer.
That includes discounted cash flow analysis, multiple of net income, and multiple of revenue. This gives you a 360-degree view of your business and a competitive offer that you can feel confident about when selling an RIA. With dozens of acquisitions under our belts, we understand how to complete deals tailored to the goals of each firm.
Mercer Advisors’ scale helps you do the life planning for yourself that you’ve been doing for your clients. We take the middle- and back-office burden off your plate, allowing you more time to focus on your passions.
If you want to keep advising clients, we’ll enable you to focus 100% on meeting their financial needs. That’s because our teams handle all activities, such as compliance, IT, accounting, HR, marketing, and legal, so you can do more of what you love, with less administrative burden. If you’d prefer to design a life after ownership, we’ll help you with RIA succession planning, too.
Like most RIAs that join us, you’ll benefit from our growth engines, which means you’ll get more business and enjoy it more fully.
That’s because we’re one of the fastest growing wealth managers in the industry, so you get more opportunities coming through the door. The best part is, you don’t have to spend time on business development, because our dedicated salesforce does it for you. As a national firm we receive referrals from the national exclusive referral programs: Schwab, TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, and Fidelity.
Our goal is to triple the amount of business the RIA’s that join us handled, while allowing them to focus on the part of the business they love.
We offer professional fulfillment and leadership opportunities for you and your employees, so you’re well taken care of today and tomorrow.
Our size and scale provide clear career paths, with robust training programs and attractive compensation packages. Our advisors have a path to progress up the ladder, from office manager, to regional director, to managing director managing multiple regions across the country. You and your employees can enjoy full careers here at Mercer Advisors.
Our dedicated Integration Team has integrated many RIAs like yours into Mercer Advisors, so you can trust the transition to Mercer Advisors’ systems and practices to happen seamlessly.
Because we’re an integrator, not an aggregator, we don’t just buy organizations without blending the client experience. We think of ourselves as the ”Mayo Clinic” of wealth management. We develop best practices in each role, department, branch, and region, then bring them to everyone at all levels and locations. This enables our financial planners, accountants, lawyers, and other professionals in all our offices to offer your clients the same high-level experience of doing business on a personal level.
Our digital client onboarding process creates an easy and seamless transition from first contact through digital processing, with convenient features such as DocuSign digital document signing, streamlined account opening paperwork, and account registration.
It’s all supported by our robust technology systems, including:
- Salesforce, featuring an Executive Dashboard that aggregates data to give you a full view of the business
- eMoney financial planning software and its single-sign-on client portal, which have the same interface to ensure ease of use for you and your clients
- Envestnet, the well-known turnkey asset management platform (TAMP)
All of these systems are overseen by our dedicated IT department.
With Mercer Advisors, you can rest assured that your clients will get high-quality advisory assistance with a unified customer experience that makes it easy for them, and for you, to do business.
David Barton
Vice Chairman, Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Team Leader
David Barton
Vice Chairman, Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Team Leader
JD
David leads a team that has completed more than 55 M&A deals with approximately $22 billion in acquired AUM since 2017. Prior to taking on this role, David served as Mercer Advisors CEO for nine years and held multiple other senior leadership positions including President, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Client Service, and General Counsel. David’s leadership experience combined with his law background helps him understand what is important to business owners and how to structure deals for win-win results.
During David’s tenure as CEO, he was responsible for transforming Mercer Advisors from a closely held company to a national-platform RIA with dozens of offices coast-to-coast and AUM that increased from $2 billion to $12 billion. David also architected Mercer Advisors’ family office business model and developed referral partnerships with firms such as TD Ameritrade, Schwab, and Scottrade—making Mercer Advisors one of the fastest-growing RIAs in the United States.
David was named the “2018 M&A Leader of the Year” by WealthManagement.com and also helped win the Private Asset Management award for “Best M&A Deal of the Year” in 2020. Formerly a trial attorney, he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Irvine, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.
Wealthmanagement.com M&A Leader of the Year 2018, An individual executive leader (not limited to CEOs) of an independent Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm who has successfully led the growth of their firm through inorganic strategies such as mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures this past year. Criteria include demonstrable impact on their firm; financial gains; negotiating success, operational excellence in integrating merged/acquired firms; external benchmarks such as number of deals completed, total AUM acquired/merged, business value created, etc.
Private Asset Management Best M&A Deal of the Year 2020: Candidates are invited to submit responses in several categories to demonstrate developments to their business model, financial progress in business performance and service offerings. Selection is determined by growth in clients and employees, client satisfaction, and product Innovation over the course of the previous year. Winners are determined by an independent panel of industry experts and the PAM editorial team. Mercer Advisors purchased a table at the 2021 awards ceremony. For more information on Private Asset Management (PAM), visit fundintelligence.global.
Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Mercer Advisors is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. Rankings are generally limited to participating advisers (see participation criteria/methodology). Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, Mercer Advisors did not pay a fee to be included on any such ranking. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Mercer Advisors by any of its clients.
Nicholas Semko
Managing Director, M&A
Nicholas Semko
Managing Director, M&A
CFP®, CRPC®, CMFC®
Nick joined the Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Team in 2021 after seven years of leading business development efforts throughout the Northeast Region for Mercer Advisors, first as a Regional Vice President and later as Branch Manager in New York City. Under his guidance, the regional team integrated nine acquired firms and added 10 new offices while growing AUM by more than $3 billion. Nick has served on the Mercer Advisors Senior Leadership Team since 2017.
Prior to joining Mercer Advisors in 2014, Nick was an Assistant Vice President at AllianceBernstein Investments, where he consulted with financial advisors across all channels in both the New York Metro and Midwestern markets. He began his career in 2004 at Ameriprise Financial, providing comprehensive wealth planning and investment management services for high-net-worth clients.
Nick received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Villanova University. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son as well as golfing, running, and relaxing on the beach.
Randy Magdaluyo
Vice President, M&A Program Management
Randy Magdaluyo
Vice President, M&A Program Management
Randy joined Mercer Advisors in 2019 as a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Team. Previously, he served as a resource for RIA owners on M&A and succession at TD Ameritrade Institutional. Randy’s other past roles include Manager in the Capital Markets Group at Accenture and Vice President at Fidelity Investments serving independent RIAs. He also served as a Vice President at State Street, helping conduct due diligence and integrate global investment managers with $25 billion to €300 billion under management in the US and Europe.
Randy began his career in the investment management industry in 1999. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Joe Pellizzari
Vice President, M&A
Joe Pellizzari
Vice President, M&A
Joe has worked exclusively with RIAs for over two decades. He has extensive industry experience in helping firms with a variety of practice management topics, including strategic planning, business succession, implementing growth strategies, and deploying technology solutions.
Prior to joining Mercer Advisors, Joe worked within the Advisor Services business enterprise of Charles Schwab. He was responsible for providing leadership, sales management, and coaching to a team of Senior Relationship Managers that covered the top firms in the Southeast territory, which included over $250 billion in assets. His territory exceeded its growth goals by more than 140% during Joe’s tenure. He began his career helping RIAs to implement software solutions to drive firm productivity and profitability.
Joe earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from North Carolina State University and completed the Personal Financial Planning Accelerated Program through the University of California at Irvine. In addition, Joe has obtained the CFP® certification.
In his spare time, Joe enjoys biking, swimming, and traveling with his wife and two children.
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- Mercer Advisors charges an additional cost for the optional service of tax strategy and preparing clients’ annual tax returns.
- Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning documentation preparation and other legal advice is provided through its affiliation with Advanced Services Law Group, Inc.
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All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Portfolio management strategies such as diversification, asset allocation, and rebalancing do not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning document preparation and other legal advice are provided through Advanced Services Law Group, Inc. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a Delaware corporation and is in no way affiliated with Mercer LLC, Mercer Investments, or the Marsh & McLennan Companies. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and delivers all investment-related services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is the parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. and is not involved with investment services. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
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