Citizens Financial acquires $7.5 billion Clarfeld Financial

Citizens Financial Group Inc. is expanding its wealth management business with the acquisition of Clarfeld Financial Advisors, a New York firm with approximately $7.5 billion in total client assets under management and administration. Robert A. Clarfeld, who has led Clarfeld as founder and chief executive officer since 1981, will serve as CEO of the combined business. The deal will integrate Citizens Bank Private Wealth Management, the private wealth division of Citizens Bank, into Clarfeld. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close later this year or in early 2019. Clarfeld will continue to operate under its own name and focus on high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. "Under Rob's leadership, we have a significant opportunity to serve the most complex needs of our clients while we continue to focus on expanding our business," John Bahnken, president and CEO of Citizens Bank Wealth Management, said in a statement. Citizens Bank Private Wealth Management has approximately $7.2 billion in total client assets under management and administration. The combined Clarfeld-Citizens operation will have approximately $14.7 billion in assets under management and total client assets of about $34.1 billion under management and under administration. The acquisition will also allow Citizens to expand its services in family office, investment, financial planning, and tax and estate planning services for clients. Citizens Financial Group has $158.6 billion in assets. (More: Robo SigFig building digital platform for Citizens Bank advisers)