Merchant and Mesirow beef up tax planning capabilities

Merchant and Mesirow have announced strategic additions to their networks as they both sharpen their focus on the increasingly crucial arena of tax planning.

On Wednesday, Merchant Investment Management, a strategic capital provider and management partner to 100 RIAs and other financial services firms representing $180 billion in assets, revealed a new strategic growth partnership with Venning Advisors.

Venning, a CPA and advisory firm originally founded in New England in 1978, has more than 150 professionals across 15 US offices,

With the collaboration, advisors at Merchant have an opportunity to incorporate more tax services for their clients, particularly as Venning adopts several AI-based initiatives aimed at addressing the next challenges facing the industry.

“Merchant’s diversified approach within financial services, extending beyond investment advisory to encompass the broader needs of clients, makes this partnership a natural fit,” Rishi Gautam, CEO of Venning, said in a statement Wednesday. “Together, we can offer a more holistic and comprehensive solution that truly addresses the evolving demands of today's clients.”

Beyond facilitating collaboration between CPAs and financial advisors, Venning’s platform also provides succession planning opportunities for CPA professionals, allowing them to transition their practices while maintaining client continuity. 

“The integration of CPAs into the wealth management landscape represents a tremendous opportunity for firms to elevate their value proposition,” said Tim Bello, co-founder and managing partner at Merchant. “By partnering with Venning, we are helping firms bring tax expertise in-house, ensuring that financial advisors and CPAs work seamlessly together to deliver the most comprehensive and strategic advice to clients.”

The Venning partnership comes shortly after Fin.Link, a succession planning and valuation platform backed, announced a strategic partnership with Republic Capital Group, a specialist investment banking service provider focused on the wealth and asset management industry.

Both Fin.Link and Republic are partners of Merchant, with the latter announcing a minority, non-controlling investment from Merchant last September.

Meanwhile, Mesirow Wealth Management, the $12.4 billion subsidiary of Mesirow, has expanded its tax planning services with the hiring of Gary Pattengale as senior vice president and advanced planning specialist. Pattengale, who has more than 30 years of experience in financial consulting, will serve as a tax planning resource for Mesirow’s wealth advisors.

Prior to joining Mesirow, Pattengale offered services to individuals, families, and entities at Corient and Northern Trust.

“Gary’s decades of experience as a financial consultant adds a key component of advanced tax planning to our best-in-class client service,” said Brian Price, who took on the role of CEO at Mesirow Wealth Management in May last year. “We look forward to Gary’s collaboration with our wealth advisors as they serve their clients.”

Before onboarding Pattengale, Mesirow has been growing its wealth management business through both organic expansion and acquisitions. In 2023, the firm acquired Front Barnett Associates, which strengthened its offering to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients. More recently last September, it snapped up Price Wealth Management, an RIA firm based in Florida.