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.
*Disclosure
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.
