Mercer Advisors moves toward $14 billion AUM with Sigma deal

The shopping spree continues at Mercer Advisors, which announced Monday its second acquisition of the month, pushing the fast-growing acquirer to nearly $14 billion in assets under management. This week's deal involves Sigma Investment Management Co., a Portland, Ore.-based registered investment adviser with $500 million in assets under management. The announcement comes just a week after Mercer secured an agreement to acquire Beacon Wealth Management, a $230 million RIA with offices in Hackensack, N.J., and Palm Beach, Fla. Denver-based Mercer has not been shy about its growth strategy, having acquired more than a dozen RIAs over the past two years, and adding more than $5 billion in assets in the process. The Sigma deal is seen as a direct result of Mercer's increased focus on the northwestern United States, which included bringing on Vince Gimarelli, whose background includes senior management roles at Schwab Advisor Services and two independent registered investment advisory firms. "This is an important deal for Mercer as Portland is a valuable market for acquirers but is tougher to crack as there aren't as many firms with scale and even fewer that are available to purchase," said Daniel Seivert, chief executive officer at Echelon Partners. "Deals like these represent important base hits for Mercer that is looking to build momentum on the deal side," Mr. Seivert said. "And they layer in organic growth strategies for the firms they acquire."