A Colorado Springs-based registered investment advisor has extended its national footprint into the Pacific Northwest, acquiring a Portland, Oregon wealth management practice with roughly $224 million in client assets as part of a succession-driven transaction that reflects the accelerating pace of RIA consolidation across the country.
Summit Wealth Group announced Tuesday it has completed the acquisition of Financial Investment Team, a Portland firm founded by Diana Harrison that serves approximately 300 clients.
All 10 Financial Investment Team employees, including three advisors, will join Summit as part of the deal, which was facilitated by FP Transitions, a firm specializing in succession and ownership transitions for independent advisory practices.
The transaction brings Summit to 12 offices across six states, with Oregon representing the firm's first presence in the Pacific Northwest. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal is structured around a challenge that has become increasingly common in the independent advice industry: a founder approaching retirement who lacked a clear path to financing an internal buyout.
Summit purchased Harrison's ownership stake while offering equity incentives to the firm's existing advisors; an arrangement the acquirer says is designed to retain talent and maintain continuity for clients.
"Financial Investment Team represents exactly the kind of partnership Summit was built for," said Randy Morris, chief executive of Summit Wealth Group.
RIA mergers and acquisitions hit a new quarterly record in the first quarter of 2026, with $1.67 trillion in deals changing hands according to an Echelon Partners report, as an aging advisor population accelerates the pace at which ownership transitions are being structured. A separate analysis from DeVoe & Company found that 2026 is on pace to be another record year for RIA deal activity, driven in large part by succession needs at small and mid-sized independent firms.
Summit's approach of buying the founding owner out while incentivizing the remaining team with equity, is one of several structures gaining traction as alternatives to pure external sales.
Seamus O'Brien, who leads advisor success at Summit Wealth Group, said the priority in any transition is minimizing disruption for clients. “Our job is to make this transition feel invisible to the client," he said.
Other national RIAs have pursued similar geographic expansion strategies through targeted acquisitions, using founder succession as the entry point into markets where organic growth would be slower. For Summit, the Portland deal signals an intent to push further into the West Coast in the months ahead, though the firm has not publicly detailed its next targets.
Financial Investment Team's client assets were measured at approximately $224 million as of August 25, 2026.
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