Corient snaps up $10.4B multi-family office in NYC

Corient, the US wealth subsidiary of CI Financial, has announced what is likely its first deal of 2025

On Wednesday morning, the historically acquisitive RIA announced a deal to snap up the multi-family office business of Geller & Company.

Based in New York City, Geller MFO manages and advises on $10.4 billion in assets, focusing on ultra-high-net-worth clients. The deal strengthens Corient’s presence in the Northeast market and broadens its family office services.

Founded in 1984 by Martin Geller, Geller MFO provides tailored services such as personal CFO and financial management, tax advisory, estate and generational wealth planning, and integrated investment management. With the acquisition, Corient says it will enhance its offerings through expanded investment capabilities, enhanced trust services, and a more robust operational and technology platform.

“The fact that a firm of Geller’s stature has chosen to join Corient speaks to the tremendous quality of our firm and the value of our differentiated private partnership structure and business model,” Kurt MacAlpine, partner and CEO of Corient, said in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to adding their significant tax and CFO expertise to further enhance our ability to provide bespoke wealth management solutions.”

Geller, a veteran broker registered with Finra since 1993, also emphasized the alignment between the two firms. “We have been incredibly impressed with Corient and how its core strengths and culture align closely with our own,” he said. “We firmly believe that Corient and Geller coming together will set the standard of what it means to be a family office in the UHNW space.”

The deal to snap up Geller MFO eclipses another transaction announced by Corient in December, which would see the Miami-based firm snap up H.M. Payson, Maine’s largest RIA managing $7.9 billion. It could also mark a return to acquisition mode for Corient, which for a couple of years had a reputation as one the fastest-growing RIAs in the US. That was before its summer 2023 re-christening in which it shed its former moniker, CI Private Wealth.

Founded in 2020, Corient operates as a fiduciary, fee-only RIA, overseeing $182 billion in client assets with a team of over 1,200 employees and 240 partners.

CI Financial, is in the process of being taken private through a deal with Mubadala Capital, which was announced in November.