Summit stakes Rhode Island-based RIA Ivy Wealth Management

Summit Financial has notched another deal in its growing minority-stake playbook, extending its network further into the Northeast as it takes a noncontrolling interest in a Rhode Island-based RIA firm.

Summit's latest strategic investment in Ivy Wealth Management brings more than $500 million in client assets onto its platform.

Backed by 40 years of industry experience, Parsippany, New Jersey-based Summit Financial is partly owned by Merchant Investment Management, a privately held firm that holds itself out as a strategic lifecycle equity partner to RIA advisor-owners. 

Ivy, based in West Warwick, Rhode Island, works primarily with high-net-worth families and business owners across the Northeast US.

Ivy was founded in 2010 by president Brad Ingegneri, who launched the firm after nearly a decade as a senior financial advisor and assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch. Ingegneri's IAPD record also shows he was previously registered with Cetera and LPL.

The firm emphasizes a planning-led approach, a “client-first” philosophy and deep roots in its local community, according to a deal announcement on Thursday.

Summit Financial Holdings chairman and CEO Stan Gregor framed the transaction as part of a broader effort to build out a network of like-minded advisory businesses, with partnerships that “enable growth-minded firms to collaborate, innovate, and strengthen our community for the future.”

Ingegneri said the move is intended to give Ivy’s clients access to a broader set of tools and services without changing the firm’s core identity of "delivering personalized, sophisticated guidance that brings greater peace of mind for our clients,” he said.

Summit has leaned hard into its minority-stake model – a strategy that's accounted for 14% of all RIA M&A deals in the first three quarters of this year, according to the latest quarterly RIA M&A report from Devoe. Since early 2024, the firm has completed 27 partnership transactions, counting 14 this year, and now oversees more than $25 billion in client assets.

In July, Summit announced investments in four RIAs in New York, Florida, Ohio and New Mexico that collectively added about $1.2 billion in assets and bolstered a network of more than 150 advisors in 23 states. Earlier this year, Summit struck minority deals with Alabama-based Parsons Broach and Genex Consulting, a Missouri multi-family office managing roughly $700 million in client assets, through its Summit Growth Partners arm.

Keith Soltis, Summit’s head of growth and business development, said the Ivy deal underscores the firm’s focus on cultural alignment.

“Like Summit, Ivy is committed to service, integrity, and excellence,” he said, describing the Ivy business as defined by “resilience, consistency, and enduring growth for the clients they serve.”