Aspen Standard Wealth has expanded in Louisiana with the acquisition of Cullen Investment Group, a Lafayette-based registered investment advisor with more than $1 billion in assets under management.
The Tuesday announcement from the New York-based RIA aggregator said the deal is its fourth acquisition of 2026. It would also mark the 10th transaction for Aspen's acquisition strategy, which has been ongoing for almost two years.
Extrapolating from previously disclosed figures, the addition of Cullen lifts the total assets Aspen claims across its affiliated firms to more than $16.5 billion.
Cullen was founded in 1986 as Lafayette's only locally owned and operated full-service brokerage. It now operates as an SEC-registered RIA and manages customized portfolios built around a disciplined value approach.
"We are excited to partner with Aspen to build upon our legacy as an independent wealth management firm that is focused on providing our clients with a truly holistic experience," said Stephen Nickel, a principal with Cullen. "That commitment to our clients will never change."
"The team at Cullen has built an incredible wealth management offering that places client best interests at the center of everything they do," said Aly Kassim-Lakha, Aspen's chief executive. "We look forward to providing them with additional resources and capabilities to build upon that foundation and to continue to serve their clients with exemplary care for decades to come."
Aspen, which isn't a registered investment advisor itself, is backed by San Francisco private-equity firm Alpine Investors and Evergreen Services Group. It holds itself out as a permanent owner in its partner firms, rather than a buyer that resells firms after a few years. Partner firms get to keep their names and leadership and are able to draw on Aspen's capital, technology and back-office support.
It's certainly been a busy year so far for the acquirer. In February, Aspen hired Kevin DiSano, former chief growth officer at Beacon Pointe Advisors, as president in charge of ensuring organic growth across its affiliates. The following month, it bought BlueSky Wealth Advisors, a New Bern, North Carolina firm with roughly $1 billion in assets.
Fast forwarding to July, Aspen added roughly $1.3 billion in assets with Kalamazoo-based CWS Financial Advisors, a fee-only firm founded in 1983 that serves affluent households nationally. Shortly after, it moved into Colorado by acquiring Denver Private Wealth Management, a boutique founded in 2014 that oversees about $550 million.
The buying spree began in November 2024, when Aspen made its dealmaking debut with Summitry, a San Francisco Bay Area firm then overseeing $2.8 billion.
"Aspen offers what successful, leading RIAs like Summitry have long been looking for: a deeply knowledgeable, permanent partner who is there to support them indefinitely," Kassim-Lakha said at the time.
Cullen fits the profile of the firms currently drawing the most attention from buyers. In its 2026 deal report, Advisor Growth Strategies said RIAs managing $500 million to $5 billion are "firmly in the crosshairs" as they work out which buyers suit them best.
Overall deal volume shows no sign of slowing. Echelon Partners counted 120 RIA transactions in the second quarter of 2026, which helped drive a 262-deal first half. The consultancy has projected roughly 500 transactions would be announced in 2026, setting a new all-time high after the 2025 record of 466.
A new analysis by ISS Market Intelligence reckons that retail-focused RIAs drew 9,525 representatives from other channels between 2021 and 2025, compared with 5,780 for independent broker-dealers. That activity is largely spread across different types of aggregators, including platform operators like Dynasty, strategic acquirers like Hightower, and roll-up aggregators like Mariner.
ISS also identified a set of emerging aggregators that plan aggressive buying but are still at an early stage.
"[T]he scale of activity in the market means aggregators are not limited to simply one approach, with firms unveiling new divisions that act more like roll-up aggregators, such as Hightower’s Signature Wealth," the report said.
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