Mercer Advisors lands $2.5B mega-practice

Mercer Advisors is bolstering its presence in the ultra-affluent wealth space with the acquisition of another mega-practice. The national RIA announced that it has acquired Seattle-based MDK Wealth Management.

Established in 2020 by a trio of co-founders, MDK caters to the ultra-high-net-worth segment and has more than $2.5 billion in assets under supervision.

According to Mercer Advisors CEO Dave Welling, the acquisition of MDK gives his firm an expanded Pacific Northwest footprint, as well as a stronger presence in the Seattle area.

“MDK is a respected multifamily office led by highly qualified professionals with deep expertise serving the ultra-high-net-worth space,” Welling said in a statement.

MDK, which offers a comprehensive range of family office services including financial planning, investment management, and private banking, positions itself as a pivotal "financial quarterback" for its clientele.

Emphasizing a goals-based planning approach, it also offers bespoke services such as trust and estate planning, tax planning, and executive planning, as well as private aviation and boat advisory services.

"[W]e have built a white glove multifamily office designed to serve our UHNW clients with exceptional umbrella care,” said Chris Kalafatis, one of the co-founders of MDK.

Kalafatis is an industry veteran with almost two decades of experience, including six years registered with Finra and nearly a dozen years with the SEC.

“While we have done that, we also wanted to build out our scale creating a platform for institutional and ongoing care,” Kalafatis said.

"After an exhaustive search, we chose to partner with Mercer Advisors, a national family wealth office that provides estate planning, tax consulting and return preparation, corporate trustee, and ERISA plan services all in-house led by subject matter experts," said Jaimi Dennehy, another MDK co-founder.

Paul Meyer, MDK’s third co-founder, highlighted the practice’s capability to offer a “Mayo Clinic approach to financial care” with support from the “panoply of subject matter experts” at Mercer Advisors.

"This partnership is built on a shared vision of offering unparalleled service to the UHNW community," said David Barton, vice chairman at Mercer Advisors, David Barton, who played a crucial role in facilitating the acquisition.

Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors manages over $56 billion in client assets.

Last month, it deepened its bench of talent by recruiting five veteran RIA industry veterans to its M&A partner development team.

Prior to that, it welcomed a Denver-based wealth practice, Transitions Wealth Management, which manages $465 million for over 600 clients.