River Wealth Advisors Partners With Merchant ~ Family Wealth Report
Family Wealth Report ~ Shirin Aguiar, reporter; February 2, 2022
The minority investment from Merchant supports the ambitious growth plans of the large, independent investment firm.
Pennsylvania-based River Wealth Advisors (RWA) has announced the closure of a minority investment partnership with Merchant Investment Management and a leadership succession.
RWA, one of the largest independent registered investment advisory firms in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, has partnered with Merchant to support its ambitious growth plans. The RIA firm has also elevated Edward O’Gorman CFA® (pictured) to chief executive officer after 11 years at the firm, and promoted Rebecca Stevenson McClure (pictured), who joined the firm in 2018, to chief client officer.
“We have seen other firms in our region give up their independence through roll-up mergers. We saw an opportunity with Merchant to uphold our promise to our clients and our team members by maintaining majority ownership and day-to-day operational control at the local level,” O’Gorman, who also serves as chief investment officer of River Wealth Advisors, said. “This strategic partnership provides growth capital and resources to galvanize the future evolution of our firm."
RWA’s partnership with Merchant, which closed in September 2021, sets the stage for the firm to build on its distinctive client experience, implement formalized career development tracks for the firm’s team members, and pursue organic and inorganic growth, the firm said in a press release yesterday.
The firm said that Merchant’s understanding of wealth management and its “durable, long-term commitment of resources” have already yielded results. Since September, RWA has surpassed $1 billion in assets and has formalized a team-based service model that offers clients access to RWA’s expertise in investment strategy, financial planning, and ongoing relationship management.
“RWA has been uniquely supportive of the advisor-client relationship, working with advisor teams in central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley to grow in a way that adds value well beyond the traditional wealth management offering. Also, a woman-owned, independent firm of its size is well-positioned to stand out as an attractive place for other advisors to bring their business. Our partnership is designed to help Ed, Becky and their team fully and truly capitalize on the future opportunity,” Tim Bello, managing partner at Merchant, said.
Merchant is a private partnership providing growth capital, management resources, strategic opportunities and direction to independent financial services companies, particularly those focused on wealth and asset management.
The firm is a minority investor in RIAs and RIA-affiliated businesses and represents a network of independent advisors with approximately $100 billion in client investment assets under management. The firm also operates as an RIA lender and has an affiliated asset manager. It describes itself as "principally aligned growth partners," according to its website.
Marc Spilker, Merchant’s executive chairman, co-founded the firm in 2017, having formerly served as president of Apollo Global Management. The Merchant teams have served in senior leadership roles in global financial services firms such as Goldman Sachs, Eton Park Capital, Skybridge Capital, Focus Financial Partners, Dynasty Financial Partners and Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments.
Based in Madison Avenue, New York, the firm expanded internationally in December 2021 when it partnered with Brainvest Wealth Management, providing a minority stake investment to the $3 billion multi-shore firm offering wealth planning services and alternative investment solutions to complex, international families and entrepreneurs.