Mercer Advisors adds nearly $1.675B in major double-deal

Mercer Advisors made an emphatic show of its dealmaking power on Tuesday with a pair of major acquisitions

In Colorado, the firm announced that it has snapped up Chapel & Collins, a Fort Collins-based RIA. Managing approximately $675 million in assets for over 500 clients, primarily high-net-worth families, Mercer's latest acquisition strengthens its already sizeable presence in the Denver area.

Founded with a focus on high-net-worth investors, Chapel & Collins provides a broad spectrum of services, including estate planning, charitable giving, tax planning, and alternative investments. The firm’s seven-member team brings more than a century of combined experience to their diversified client base, which is primarily composed of business owners, retirees, and pre-retirees.

For Dennis Collins, co-founder of Chapel & Collins, the firm's new relationship with Mercer Advisors is an opportunity to serve those clients better.

“By leveraging Mercer Advisors’ tremendous scale and resources, we can devote more time and attention to helping our clients navigate their unique challenges and opportunities,” Collins said in a statement. “Families with multigenerational wealth are often confronted with complex financial lives that require a more nuanced, thoughtful approach.”

With the addition of Chapel & Collins, Mercer Advisors now has close to $5 billion in assets under management across seven offices in Colorado, employing over 150 people in the Greater Denver area.

“Chapel & Collins is a shining example of a firm that shares our client-first philosophy, with financial planning at the center of every relationship,” said Martine Lellis, principal for M&A partner development at Mercer Advisors, who was appointed to the role in May. “The highly experienced team is well-positioned to continue growing its client base.”

Meanwhile in Minnesota, Mercer Advisors revealed another deal to acquire Waypoint Capital Advisors, which boasts nearly $1 billion in AUM. Based in Minneapolis, the team of 12 professionals offers investment advisory and financial planning services for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and generationally wealthy families.

Having made its mark in the family office space since its inception in 2015, Waypoint is looking to deepen its planning capabilities for its well-heeled clientele by tapping into Mercer Advisors' pool of specialists and advanced capabilities.

"Partnering with Mercer Advisors for our next phase of growth was the clear choice. We have the shared vision of providing clients with personalized fiduciary financial advice that not only helps them execute their financial plans, but also fulfills their life plans," said Waypoint CEO and Managing Partner Jon Jennedy.

"Our approach to serving families of significant means combines our rigor in the design and execution of financial plans, in addition to extending our capabilities in investment management, tax efficiency and philanthropy," Lellis said.

Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is majority owned by Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital, and Altas Partners, and manages $66 billion in assets across more than 90 locations nationwide.

The deals for Chapel & Collins and Waypoint builds on Mercer Advisors’ ongoing expansion strategy, which so this year has included its September acquisition of $412 million Benchmark Wealth Management in Connecticut and its March mega-deal to snap up MDK Wealth Management, a $2.5 billion practice in Seattle.