Southern California RIA looks to acquire

An independent financial advisory firm in Southern California with $1.4 billion in assets under management is opening its wallet and looking for deals. Torrance, Calif.-based EP Wealth Advisors Inc. is looking to acquire other firms in Southern California, according to the president of the fee-based registered investment adviser. “We've been able to achieve strong organic growth and were fortunate for that, but part of why I was hired in 2011 — two years ago — was to institutionalize the business and achieve additional growth,” said the president, Patrick Goshtigian, in an interview. “It allows us to provide an opportunity to benefit from the scale we're starting to achieve and provides a mechanism by which they can achieve some succession planning or just take advantage of that scale and be able to focus more on their clients and growth of their client base.” EPWA has partnered with Advice Dynamics Partners LLC to manage the process. Mr. Goshtigian said his firm is likely looking for independent advisers managing between $100 and $300 million in assets. The firm has ambitions to reach $5 billion in managed assets overall, he said. EPWA was formed in 2004, the product of a merger between Premier Financial Management LLC and Enright Financial Consultants Inc.