Captrust has taken a significant stride forward in its acquisition strategy with a multibillion-dollar addition in Kansas, while Beacon Pointe expanded its reach in multiple states with a trio of acquisitions.
Captrust Financial Advisors unveiled a sizeable addition in the Midwest Wednesday, bringing Kansas City-based Meritage Portfolio Management into its growing RIA network.
Meritage, which oversees about $2.4 billion in client assets, works with high-net-worth households as well as retirement plans, endowments, and foundations. The firm is led by president and co-chief investment officer Mark Eveans and principal Jim Klein, and 17 Meritage employees – including nine advisors – are joining Captrust.
Meritage joined Captrust in December and will take on the Captrust brand.
Eveans framed the decision as a way to plug into a larger platform while maintaining a focus on clients and staff.
“By joining CAPTRUST, we are positioning ourselves for long-term success,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “This strategic step gives our team access to a broader network of resources and support that will help us create new opportunities for both our clients and colleagues.”
The deal continues a yearslong campaign for Captrust to build its presence in Kansas. Among other firms operating in Kansas City – which Nick Blasi, principal and Midwest regional leader at Captrust, called “a key growth market for CAPTRUST” – it added Frontier Wealth Management in 2022, and has also expanded in Wichita.
With Meritage on board, Captrust now counts 54 employees in Kansas and operates two offices in Kansas City.
Last year, the firm named longtime Echelon Partners banker Mike Wunderli as head of mergers and acquisitions, tasking him with overseeing inorganic growth and targeting firms that fit Captrust’s client-first, fiduciary model. That appointment came after Captrust hit a "surreal" $1 trillion AUM milestone in 2024.
Beacon Pointe Advisors is also leaning into scale, rolling up three RIAs that bring the firm’s total assets under advisement to about $62 billion and extending its footprint across several key markets.
Following its November acquisition of a $1.2 billion female-founded firm, Beacon Pointe said it has acquired Financial Planning Solutions in Newton, Massachusetts; Voyager Wealth Management in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; and InvestmentHunter Wealth Services in the Fort Worth, Texas area.
The national RIA now has more than 750 team members across more than 90 offices nationwide.
Financial Planning Solutions, which advises roughly $350 million in client assets, focuses on planning around pensions, divorce and retirement and leans heavily on education-focused engagements. Partner and managing director Rick Fingerman said the move has “given us more time to focus on our clients – why we first got into this business decades ago.”
Voyager Wealth Management, with about $229 million in client assets, emphasizes planning-led advice and continuity of advisor relationships. Partner and managing director Robert Anderson said joining Beacon Pointe opens the door to “a much deeper bench of experts and resources while we continue to lead every relationship with the same care and culture they’ve always known.”
In Texas, InvestmentHunter Wealth Services brings about $153 million in assets and an owner-operated model that blends financial planning with more tactical investment decisions. Similar to the teams joining Beacon Pointe in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, senior wealth advisor Hunter Hardy said his firm's integration will “provide additional resources for our clients over the long term” while giving the team more time to focus on what matters most to them.
Beacon Pointe president Matt Cooper said the moves speak to Beacon Pointe as a “destination for teams seeking a collaborative environment,” while chief executive Shannon Eusey said the new teams support its push to deliver “thoughtful, comprehensive wealth management” to individuals and families nationwide.
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