Private equity expands beyond US wealth management

The private equity push into the U.S. wealth management space is showing signs of global expansion with New York-based Merchant Investment Management’s investment in Brainvest Wealth Management, a $3 billion multi-family office with offices in the United States, Switzerland and Brazil.

“The DNA of Merchant fits very well with our team — their experience, overall approach to client engagement and understanding of sophisticated alternative investments rings true with how we’ve built our firm,” said Brainvest founding partner Dany Roizman.

“Their support will be invaluable as Brainvest establishes itself as an attractive, independent destination for bankers and wealth managers,” he added.

According to an announcement, the partnership culminates years of searching, as Brainvest sought to broaden its strategic reach and magnify its strength in sourcing and underwriting alternative opportunities such as private debt, private equity, real estate, hedge funds and venture capital.

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Tim Bello, managing partner at Merchant, said: “We’ve always wanted to see Merchant touch down in Latin America and Europe. And now with our new family members at Brainvest, we’ve gotten there. This has been hard work given the distance, but the two management teams have become close friends and see the opportunity to become a real force together.”