Former B. Riley Exec Launches Steadfast, Merit Acquires Idaho RIA, and Hightower Exec Joins Carson Group in this Week's Edition...
Take a Lap Around the Industry
Edward Jones Launches New Service for HNW Clients in US (Yahoo Finance)
Dynasty Financial Partners Expands Investment Banking Business (Business Wire)
Bleakley Financial Group Expands Equity Partnership, Adds Advisors and Surpasses $1 Billion in Net New Assets in Q1 2025 (Business Wire)
Google Strikes $32 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz (WSJ)
Family Office Deal Tracker
San Francisco-based e-commerce platform, DITTO, has raised $82M in a Series B funding round with backing from Thomas Tull's family office
Sparta Group LLC has participated in a $51M Series B funding round for Zolve, a neobank that offers financial products to simplify banking in the US
With participation from Carpa Family Office, Brazilian fintech company, V360 has raised $7M in a Series A round
The cryptocurrency exchange platform, BetterX has raised $2.3M in a Seed round with support from Aura Group to expand their business into the Asian market Source: FINTRX
M&A Activity Tracker 🚨
Wealth Enhancement plans to acquire Cleveland-based RIA, Marcum Wealth, which manages $3B in AUM (Citywire)
$3B Denver-based Transform Wealth will join Kovitz, a Focus Partners firm (Citywire)
Marking its second largest deal, Merit Financial Advisors has acquired Idaho-based Sanctuary Wealth Management along with its affiliate, bringing in $1.6B in assets (Wealth Management)
San Diego-based $7.4B Pure Financial Advisors has acquired Personal Investment Management, which manages approximately $567M in AUM (Citywire)
New RIA Launch
Thomas Kowalczyk, former B. Riley Wealth Management executive VP and head of platform, has launched Dallas-based RIA, Steadtrust LLC
The firm has partnered with Fidelity, Raymond James, and SEI Private Trust Company for custody services but has yet to disclose any assets under management
Kowalczyk departed B. Riley in December 2024, after joining the firm in mid-2022 and previously serving as CEO of National Asset Management
Steadtrust’s formation reflects a broader trend of experienced wealth executives branching out to establish independent advisory platforms, as demand for personalized and flexible wealth management solutions continues to grow Source: Citywire
Thomas Kowalczyk
Founder
Steadtrust, LLC
Reps On the Move
RBC has appointed Kamran Azim to lead their private banking business in Singapore, while maintaining his current position as Regional Chief Operating Officer (Hubbis)
$156B Hightower’s chief executive Jack Boyle departs to join Carson Group as SVP of RIA operations (Citywire)
Former UBS executive, Michael Mandelos, is joining Orion as their EVP of wealth product, responsible for overseeing product portfolios and investment solutions (Citywire)
Blue Owl Capital, the alternative asset manager, has appointed their new global head of Family Capital, Blake Shorthouse (Private Banker International)
The FINTRX Team at Future Proof Citywide 2025 🌴
The FINTRX team has been on the ground at Future Proof Citywide 2025 in Miami, connecting with top private wealth professionals and industry leaders. Over the past few days, we've had insightful conversations on data-driven prospecting, evolving advisor recruitment strategies, and the increasing demand for seamless integrations. As firms look for smarter ways to raise capital, distribute funds, and recruit top advisors, actionable intelligence has never been more critical. We are excited to carry these insights forward and continue driving innovation in the private wealth landscape.
Written by:
Sharah Roy
Sr. Research Associate
FINTRX is an industry-leading AI-powered data intelligence solution covering 850,000+ financial firm and contact records, designed to empower industry professionals to efficiently and effectively engage with the global private wealth ecosystem. With innovative AI utility, detailed search parameters and customizable workflow tools, FINTRX enables seamless tracking of allocation trends, in-depth analysis of investment data, high-level relationship mapping and much more. To learn more or request a trial of the FINTRX product, click below.
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