Creative Planning's Mallouk sees softening valuations driving more RIA deals

Creative Planning notched its third completed deal of the year with the acquisition of Boston-based Ferris Capital, a $755 million registered investment adviser. Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning’s chief executive, said part of the appeal of Ferris Capital was its impressive growth over just 10 years of business.

David Ferris, CEO and CIO of Ferris Capital, created a wealth management firm that was as driven, fast-paced and determined as he was to provide a top-of-the-line experience to his clients, according to the announcement.

“He has a strong real estate background, and being in Boston doesn’t hurt,” Mallouk said of Ferris.

“It was evident from the very beginning that the core values at Ferris Capital aligned with our core values here at Creative Planning,” Mallouk added. “These similarities in our underlying philosophies of how we do business should make for a very smooth and successful transition as we aim to provide excellent service to our clients around the world.”

Creative Planning has grown to more than $225 billion in assets across all 50 states and 65 countries, and Mallouk said the market turmoil and economic uncertainty haven't slowed the pace of industry consolidation.

“If anything, I’m seeing the most inbounds I’ve ever seen with exception of the end of last year, when there was a threat of higher cap gains taxes,” he said.

Mallouk acknowledged that “valuations are softening a bit,” but said even that might be fueling increased interest from potential sellers.

“It’s kind of like when mortgage rates start to tick up a bit and people think they have to rush to refinance before rates go higher,” he said.

David DeVoe, founder and chief executive of DeVoe & Co., said Ferris Capital is a classic example of the right size advisory firm joining forces for growth acceleration.

“Firms like Ferris that are approaching the $1 billion in AUM milestone have a few choices to accelerate their growth and client service capabilities,” DeVoe said. “In greater numbers, they are choosing to join an enterprise partner that has a full scope of capabilities. With Creative Planning, Ferris Capital will immediately gain leverage and resources at scale.”

DeVoe categorizes Creative Planning as a “meta-RIA, one of two dozen key RIAs that are shaping the RIA industry.”

David Ferris made it clear that the joining Creative Planning is about more scale.

“The entire Ferris Capital team is as confident now as we were when we started the firm 10 years ago that our present and future clients will be well served by a unique combination of investment management and planning,” Ferris said in a statement. “Working with Creative will better enable us to advise clients on changing market conditions.”