Modern Wealth Management has named Derek Bruton as its new head of mergers and acquisitions, bringing on a 30-year industry veteran to guide the RIA’s national inorganic growth strategy and oversee its partnership development team.
Bruton, whose background spans M&A, RIA, custodian, and broker-dealer channels, will be responsible for sourcing, integrating, and onboarding advisory firms that align with Modern Wealth’s service model and culture. He is also expected to deepen the firm’s relationships with investment bankers, consultants, and other professionals active in RIA transactions, as Modern Wealth looks to build on its rapid expansion across the US.
“What Modern Wealth has built is impressive, and it starts with the people,” Bruton said in the announcement Thursday. He added that the founders and executive team are “individuals I trust and have enjoyed working with over the years,” and that he is “excited to help build on that success.”
Bruton joins Modern Wealth from Gladstone Group, where he led the strategic growth consulting division and advised on numerous RIA sell-side transactions. His earlier roles include 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.
Daniel Kreuter, founder and CEO of Gladstone Group, credited Bruton’s leadership with helping the firm navigate a surge of M&A activity in the wealth management sector. Kreuter said Bruton’s ongoing relationship with Gladstone will “strengthen the connection between Gladstone and Modern Wealth, creating new opportunities for both firms as we grow together.”
Modern Wealth has completed 18 acquisitions since its launch in April 2023, expanding its footprint to 20 client-facing offices across 14 states and surpassing $10 billion in assets under management.
Most recently in September, the firm acquired Public Safety Financial/Galloway, an Arizona-based RIA with $1.1 billion in assets under management. That transaction marked the launch of Modern Wealth’s Public Safety Financial division, which serves police officers, firefighters, government employees, military veterans, and their families. Earlier this summer was Modern Wealth's deal to snap up Kaye Capital Management, a California-based RIA with over $700 million in assets under management and an additional $300 million in assets under advisement.
Jason Gordo, co-founder and president of Modern Wealth, said Bruton brings “the industry knowledge, connections, passion and drive to take that momentum even further,” and that his addition is “an investment in our future and our continued national expansion.”
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