Mercer Advisors Acquires Wealth Design Services

Investment Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Investment Weekly News -- Mercer Advisors Inc. ("Mercer Advisors"), a national Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm based in Santa Barbara, announced the acquisition of Wealth Design Services, (WDS) a Rochester, NY-based RIA with approximately $160 million of assets under management and also includes a robust tax practice.

WDS Founder and President Steven Schwartz and his team will continue with the company and help expand Mercer's footprint in New York state and the Northeast generally, building on the company's existing presence in New York City.

Dave Welling, CEO of Mercer, said, "Steve has built Wealth Design Services into a firm with an excellent reputation for delivering personalized wealth management services to their clients. We are thrilled to add a strong presence in Rochester and to be adding a team with deep expertise in retirement, estate and tax planning to the Mercer family. WDS is a strong fit for us as we continue to broaden our "family wealth" service model and expand upon Mercer's leadership in delivering high-quality, high-value wealth management services."

Mercer Vice Chairman David Barton, who leads the company's M&A activity, said, "It's been a pleasure to work with Steven and his team over the last several months to complete this transaction. They are a great fit for us, increase our branch footprint in the greater New York area, and add talented planning and tax personnel. As we continue to drive aggressive growth, integrating highly attractive acquisitions like WDS into our portfolio is a key aspect of building our national, platform business. WDS is our seventh acquisition in 16 months and we continue to maintain a robust pipeline of potential investments that will further build stronger brand awareness across the country. Recent acquisitions include: Spruce Hill Capital, LLC, $112M in AUM (Jan 2016); Kanaly Holdings, LLC, $2.1B in AUM (Aug 2016); Pegasus Advisors, LLC, $55M in AUM (Dec 2016); Fabian Wealth Strategies, $95M in AUM (January 2017); Novos Planning Associates, Inc., $100M in AUM (February 2017); and most recently Duckworth Wealth Advisors, Inc., $160 in AUM (March 2017). Together with our organic growth, we are among the top fastest growing RIA's in the United States."

Mr. Schwartz commented, "As part of a larger organization we are better positioned to serve our existing clients with a broader range of products and services. In addition, our team looks forward to helping Mercer provide highly personalized financial planning services and one-stop solutions to new clients across the Northeast."