Elevation Point secures Merchant backing as Emigrant Partners exits

Elevation Point, the Minneapolis firm that finances wirehouse advisors going independent, has brought in a new minority investor of its own.

Merchant Investment Management has made a non-controlling investment in Elevation Point while expanding a credit facility for the firm. Emigrant Partners, which backed Elevation Point from the start, sold its stake as part of the transaction.

Financial terms were not disclosed in the announcement of the deal on Monday.

The deal gives Elevation Point more equity and borrowing capacity as its deal flow accelerates. The firm says it has taken minority stakes in 15 advisory firms with $18 billion in combined client assets under supervision since launching two years ago. 

Read more: Elevation Point CEO Jim Dickson reaches for new heights – again!

Jim Dickson, the former Sanctuary Wealth CEO who founded Elevation Point in June 2024, said the new partnership grew out of existing relationships. “I’ve known many of Merchant’s executives for years, and we share a philosophy about how to work alongside entrepreneurial firms and help them grow,” he said.

Of Emigrant, Dickson said: “We’re pleased to have delivered a strong return for them and grateful for the relationship we’ve built.”

The two firms will keep working together through Emigrant’s family office services, he added.

UBS teams fuel the pipeline

UBS has supplied most of Elevation Point’s deals this year. In January, it backed Harbor View Private Wealth, an Atlanta-area UBS team that oversaw about $1.3 billion, along with Forta Wealth Partners, a roughly $900 million former Merrill team in Indianapolis. Hampton Bluff Capital Partners, another Atlanta-area UBS group with roughly $1.3 billion, followed in February.

More recently in October, Elevation Point took a stake in Las Vegas-based Truing Capital Advisors, a UBS breakaway with about $750 million.

This month, Cleros Wealth Partners left UBS in Fort Worth, Texas, with approximately $3.61 billion in client assets. Several of those firms custody assets with Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions through Elevation Point’s relationship with the bank.

A recent advisor industry tracking report by recruiting firm Diamond Consultants counted 14 advisors from Merrill, UBS, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley joining Elevation Point in the first half of 2026.

Read more: Wirehouses losing more advisors so far in 2026: report

Why are sponsors buying minority stakes in RIAs?

Merchant has built its business on non-controlling positions in wealth firms. Its 25.9% stake in Ironbark Financial Group, an Australian firm overseeing approximately $66.6 billion in assets, was the largest wealth management transaction of the third quarter, according to Echelon Partners’ Q3 2026 RIA M&A Deal Report.

That deal was one of three minority capital events at the top of Echelon’s rankings. Hamilton Lane led a $270 million continuation vehicle for $57 billion Savant Wealth Management that gave Cynosure’s original investors liquidity. There was also Carlyle’s $600 million hybrid-capital investment in $50 billion Prime Capital Financial, which allowed Abry Partners to exit its position.

Echelon counted 11 minority transactions in the third quarter, representing approximately $224 billion in assets. That is roughly triple the $73.9 billion recorded in the second quarter. Private equity firms were involved as direct investors or buyers’ sponsors in 102 of the 125 deals it tracked.

"Overall, sponsor activity rose for a second straight quarter, mostly through minority stakes and recapitalizations rather than control buyouts," the report said.

"With new sponsors still entering and management teams framing these raises as fuel for future M&A, sponsor-backed consolidation should remain the dominant force in 2027."