Modern Wealth acquires California RIA in sixth deal of 2026

Modern Wealth Management has acquired AWA Wealth Management, a California-based registered investment advisor overseeing approximately $290 million in client assets, marking the firm's sixth acquisition in 2026 and its 24th since launching three years ago.

AWA Wealth Management was founded in 1994 by Derrick Andrews, CFP, CEP, in Auburn, California, where it has spent three decades building a planning-led practice serving multi-generational families and business owners in and around Auburn and Redding, as well as clients across the country who have maintained long-term relationships with the firm after relocating.

Its services span financial planning, investment management, tax planning and preparation, estate planning and coordination with outside professionals.

The full AWA team joins Modern Wealth as part of the transaction, including lead advisor Grant Andrews, CFP; Director of Operations Toni Farkas; Client Services Manager T.J. Peterson; and Relationship Manager Chelsea Bailey, CFP.

A succession solution after 32 years

For Derrick Andrews, the deal is as much about the firm's future as its present. After more than three decades building AWA, he said the partnership with Modern Wealth gives him the capacity to step back from day-to-day operational demands and invest more time in client relationships and mentoring the next generation of the team.

"Modern Wealth's approach to financial planning and advice aligns closely with the firm that we've built over the past 32 years," said Andrews. "Joining Modern Wealth gives our team additional resources and support while allowing us to preserve the relationships and planning philosophy that have defined AWA. It also gives me greater capacity to focus on clients, develop the next generation of our team and put the firm on a stronger path for long-term succession."

The transaction provides AWA's team with access to additional estate and trust planning resources, tax capabilities, retirement-plan expertise and expanded portfolio management support. It also gives Grant Andrews and Chelsea Bailey - both of whom carry CFP designations - a clearer runway to take on greater advisory responsibilities over time.

"This gives me the opportunity to focus more of my time on what led me to establish AWA Wealth Management in the first place: building deep client relationships and delivering holistic financial planning and advice," added Derrick Andrews. "Not only that, but it strengthens our succession plan and gives me more time to mentor Grant, Chelsea and the broader team as they continue taking on greater responsibilities within the practice."

Modern Wealth's 2026 acquisition pace

The deal follows Modern Wealth's September 2026 acquisition of Sanchez Wealth Management, a Jacksonville, Florida-based firm managing $710 million in client assets, itself the firm's third Florida acquisition in 2026.

Since its founding in 2023 by former United Capital executives Gary Roth, Mike Capelle and Jason Gordo, Modern Wealth has grown to nearly $16 billion in assets under management through a strategy of acquiring planning-led RIA practices and establishing regional offices across key US markets.

Last year, the firm hired Derek Bruton from Gladstone Group as its new head of mergers and acquisitions, bringing 30 years of experience to the role including executive positions at Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and LPL Financial, with experience recruiting more than 10,000 advisors and advising over 20,000 firms on growth and strategy.

Jason Gordo, president and co-founder of Modern Wealth, said the AWA acquisition deepens the firm's California presence while delivering a sustainable path forward for a founder-led practice.

"Derrick and the team at AWA Wealth Management have built a strong relationship-driven, comprehensive practice," said Gordo. "AWA strengthens our presence in California, but just as importantly, this partnership gives the team a framework for long-term succession while allowing Derrick to remain closely connected to the clients and advisors he has developed deep relationships with over his career."

The challenge of transitioning a practice built around a single relationship-driven advisor remains one of the most acute structural pressures facing the independent advice industry and aggregators like Modern Wealth have positioned themselves directly in that gap.