Mercer adds Denver RIA overseeing $465M

Mercer Global Advisors has acquired Transitions Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor in Denver that manages $465 million in assets for more than 400 clients, the firm said Wednesday.

Transitions Wealth Management was founded in 1999 by a team of accountants, including Bruce R. Bendell and Gary P. Saltman. The team, which now includes shareholders Michelle R. Sandt-Wade and Michael G. Simmons, works with clients employing a CPA perspective on issues that include reducing their tax burden and optimizing their cash flow and insurance coverage, in addition to helping them with investments and savings.

“We believe in providing holistic and comprehensive financial planning for our clients by addressing their financial needs,” Bruce Bendell, the firm’s managing partner, said in a statement. “Our commitment to that high level service has fueled our rapid growth in Colorado and beyond. 

“To take the next appropriate steps to expand and institutionalize our business, we knew we were at a crossroads of either building the infrastructure necessary to support further expansion, or, alternatively, joining a national firm that had already successfully crossed that Rubicon,” Bendell continued.  “After conducting an extensive search with our investment banker Advisor Growth Strategies, we found our right partner after meeting with David Barton, vice chairman, who heads up mergers and acquisitions for Mercer Advisors, and other Mercer Advisors personnel.”

“TWM stands out in a crowded RIA market,” David Barton said in the statement. “They are exactly the kind of people and business model we seek to partner with, making each of us better and stronger.”

Mercer Advisors, which is also based in Denver, is majority owned by Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital and Altas Partners, manages more than $50 billion in client assets, and has 80 locations across the country.

In December, Mercer announced that it had purchased $495 million Paragon Wealth Strategies in Jacksonville, Florida, and $95 million Brighton Financial Planning, which operates in New Jersey and South Carolina. In October, it said it had acquired $630 million Kingfisher Capital in Charlotte, South Carolina.