Constellation-backed Bogart Wealth prepares to enter M&A market

Bogart Wealth is gearing up to make its entry into the M&A market, marking a new chapter for the Virginia-based RIA that’s thus far reached $3.5 billion in managed assets entirely through organic growth channels.

Private equity firm Constellation Wealth Partners announced its minority investment into Bogart Wealth in January 2025. Constellation is invested in several other RIAs that have been acquirers in the M&A space, the most active among them being Merit Financial Advisors, as well as Summit Wealth Group and AlTi Tiedemann Global.

“We are interested in moving into the M&A space as well. For us, we're taking that with a very disciplined approach,” Bogart’s chief operating officer Allen Eickelberg told InvestmentNews. “We're not out there just to be a retirement plan for advisors that are looking to exit the space. We want to find and acquire and partner with firms who have similar alignment in terms of strategy, where the two firms joining together is multiplicative and not just additive of existing assets.”

RIAs managing between $400 million to $3 billion are seen as the top acquisition fits for Bogart, according to Eickelberg. He joined Bogart Wealth in November 2025 after spending two years at private equity real estate developer Redbrick LMD, and the previous decade working at the hybrid RIA-broker dealer Spire Investment Partners.

“When I worked with my former broker dealer and RIA, I helped transition probably north of a billion dollars in capital out of the wirehouses to that organization [Spire],” said Eichelberg. “Now, a barking dog's transition from the wire is a very different animal than a structured and coordinated M&A integration, but I think there's a lot of parallels there too that I'm excited to apply [at Bogart Wealth].”

Advisor James Bogart launched Bogart Wealth in 2016 and he remains CEO as the firm has set the lofty goal of hitting $22 billion in assets by 2033. In addition to its existing organic growth focus and upcoming M&A, Bogart recently started offering equity in the firm to all employees in hopes of further incentivizing its team of 50+ staff to reach growth targets.

“It is at its core a profits interest plan, but it's basically pegged to the company's growth as of today, moving forward,” said Eickelberg. “So everyone is incentivized to see growth from here, whether that's doubling our assets, tripling them. Our big audacious goal is to be at $22 billion by 2033 and the profits interest plan is designed to be a big part of that incentive for its employees.”

RIAs that tie employee pay to performance are growing faster than firms without performance-based incentives, according to a recent study from Schwab. Bogart’s team is currently spread across three office locations in McLean, VA, Houston and The Woodlands, TX, with a focus on serving corporate executives in industries such as the oil and energy sectors.

“What Bogart has done well from its organic growth strategy is targeting senior executives of Fortune 100 companies by learning their stock benefit plans, pensions, their employer benefits packages really well, and communicating that value and then adding it to those relationships,” said Eickelberg. “And growing through both marketing and referrals internally in those channels.”