Jeff Berman
Verified- Reporter, Freelance
- Contributing Reporter, Sports Video Group (SVG)
- Contributing Editor and Reporter, Wealth Solutions Report
Centereach, Levittown, New York
Articles by Jeff Berman
CW Advisors Adds $1.6 Billion In Assets By Buying 3 Firms
Boston-based RIA CW Advisors (CWA) announced Friday that it acquired three fee-only advisory firms in California, Massachusetts and Texas, adding a combined $1.6 billion in assets under management (AUM). The three firms acquired by the Osaic subsidiary are Yosemite Capital Management in Newport Beach and Fresno, California; Threadgill Financial in The Woodlands and League City, Texas; and Peddock Capital Advisors in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Mercer Advisors Buys AI And Tax Specialist Fifteenth
Denver-based Mercer Advisors on Thursday announced the acquisition of Fifteenth, a San Francisco-based tax and accounting specialist whose proprietary AI platform was designed for high-complexity tax work. The transaction already closed, a Mercer Advisors spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report.
Ex-UBS Advisor Team With $3.6 Billion In Assets Starts RIA In Texas
An advisory team that oversaw about $3.61 billion in assets under supervision at UBS has broken away to create RIA Cleros Wealth Partners in Fort Worth, Texas, the new independent firm announced Wednesday. Cleros Wealth launched with a strategic investment from Elevation Point, which has taken a minority stake in the RIA, according to the firms. The new RIA officially launched on Friday, a Cleros Wealth spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report.
Carson Buys Georgia RIA With $1.6 Billion In Assets
Carson Group on Tuesday announced that it acquired Marietta Wealth Management, a Marietta, Georgia-based RIA that oversees about $1.6 billion in assets under advisement. The transaction closed on Oct. 26, Michael Belluomini, Senior Vice President of M&A at Carson Group, told Wealth Solutions Report by email. Marietta Wealth joined Carson’s integrated channel as a Carson Wealth office in Marietta.
Helping HNW Clients Adjust Charitable Giving To New Tax Rules
New rules for the 2026 tax year may reduce the tax savings from charitable giving for high net worth clients. Clients who itemize can deduct only the portion of their charitable gifts above 0.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI). Those in the highest tax bracket also face a new limit on the tax savings from their deductions.
Warehouse costs rising despite increased vacancy
A new report recently issued by Seattle-based Flexe, the largest marketplace of flexible on-demand warehousing in North America, provided a detailed overview of the key factors influencing how shippers approach and rethink where they need to hold inventory and how long of a space commitment is required, or needed.
ISM Report: Manufacturing expansion continues for 10th straight month
Manufacturing output remained on the right side of growth in October, according to the new edition of the Manufacturing Report on Business, which was issued today by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM). The report’s benchmark reading, the PMI, at 55.5 (a reading of 50 or above indicates growth), posted a 1.0% gain over September, which eked out a 0.1% gain over August, with October growing, at a faster pace, for the 10th consecutive month.
AssetMark Research Finds Gaps In Private Wealth Services
There is a significant difference between what advisors say their clients expect and what primary services they are offering to clients, according to the findings of a new report released on Monday by AssetMark. Alongside the research, AssetMark introduced a private wealth program combining planning, investment support and specialized capabilities, which is now available on its platform.
CAPTRUST Adds About $1.1 Billion In Assets By Buying Washington RIA
CAPTRUST Financial Advisorson Thursday announced that it acquired Pacific Sage Partners(PSP), an Edmonds, Washington-based RIA that advises on about $1.1 billion in client assets. The transaction closed on Sept. 30, a CAPTRUST spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report. PSP’s eight-person team, which includes three advisors, is led by Mark Anderson, its Founder and CEO, the spokesperson said.
Schwab Expands AI Tools For RIAs
On Wednesday at Schwab IMPACT in Boston, Schwab Advisor Services announced new AI tools for RIAs that are available inside Schwab Advisor Center and through the third-party platforms that connect to it. Claude for Financial Advisors Among the expanded tools for RIAs, Claude for Financial Advisors is now available through Schwab Advisor Center, making Schwab the first RIA custodian to bring Anthropic’s advisor-specific AI to independent advisory firms, Schwab said.
How Advisors Can Steer Clients To Weather Rising Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve’s shift toward higher interest rates presents advisors with competing considerations as they help clients position their fixed income investments. While rising rates can put downward pressure on existing bond prices, they open opportunities to secure higher yields. Advisors must weigh those opportunities against each client’s cash flow needs, investment horizons and ability to tolerate changes in portfolio value.
Advisors Are Driving Meaningful Change Beyond Their Firms With Charitable Work
Getting involved in the community and performing charitable work has driven meaningful change for advisors beyond their practices, advisors and representatives of the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and Financial Services Institute (FSI) said Oct. 22 during a webinar presented by Invest in Others.
Cerulli: Many Investors Still Struggle To Understand Advisors’ Fees
The number of RIAs managing $5 billion or more in assets increased to 343 in 2025 from 194 in 2020, giving investors more choice than ever when selecting a financial advisor, according to a new white paper by Cerulli, released in partnership with RIA Credent Wealth Management on Wednesday.
Beacon Pointe Acquires Three RIAs Managing $1.35 Billion
RIA Beacon Pointe Advisors said Tuesday that it acquired three RIAs, adding about $1.35 billion in client assets under management (AUM). Beacon Pointe said it added WorthPointe Financial Planners, based in Austin and Tyler, Texas, and San Diego, with about $1 billion in AUM; Silver Lake Capital Partners, in Dallas, with about $200 million in AUM; and R Meier Wealth Management, in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, with about $150 million in AUM.
Osaic Recruits $2.3 Billion New Jersey Firm From LPL
Osaic announced Tuesday that ICG next, a Wall Township, New Jersey-based wealth management firm with about $2.3 billion in client assets under management, joined its advisory network. ICG serves mass affluent and high net worth families and was formerly affiliated with LPL Financial. In addition to the New Jersey office, ICG has an office in Melville, New York. It will retain its branding, an Osaic spokesperson told WSR. Led by Managing Partner James A.
DeepVest Launches PlanLab Financial Planning Capability For Advisors
DeepVest launched PlanLab, a financial planning capability that combines AI-assisted workflows with financial calculators, the firm announced Thursday. PlanLab enables advisors to visualize how various parts of clients’ financial lives connect across their retirement, taxes, investments, estate planning, insurance, risk, goals, behavioral factors, household details and business ownership plans, the firm said.
DeVoe & Company: RIA M&A Activity Fell 17% In Q3
RIA M&A transactions declined 17% to 77 in the third quarter, down from 93 a year ago, ending a seven‑quarter streak of record‑setting activity, according to DeVoe & Company’s Q3 2026 DeVoe RIA Deal Book. The firm now expects full‑year RIA M&A to finish between 320 and 340 transactions, compared with 2025’s record of 322. That implies roughly 76 to 96 transactions in the fourth quarter, compared with 81 in Q4 2025.
Advising Athletes Through Short Careers And Sudden Wealth
Short and unpredictable careers can leave athletes needing to stretch early earnings over decades. Alongside taxes and cash flow, they face family obligations, pressure to spend and the psychological adjustment to sudden wealth. College athletes also face additional questions about name, image and likeness (NIL) income, including budgeting, taxes and limited liability company (LLC) formation.
Sammons Introduces Criterion Wealth Advisory Brand
Sammons Financial Group announced Criterion as the new name for its wealth advisory holding company, which includes Beacon Capital Management, NorthRock Partners and Wealthcare. The firms collectively have more than $27 billion in assets under management (AUM) or advisement, according to Criterion. The three firms will retain their brands and operational independence, according to Criterion.
Diamond Report Finds Accelerating Wirehouse Advisor Movement In H1 2026
Advisor movement from the four wirehouse firms “accelerated sharply” in the first half of 2026 as they lost a combined 1,449 experienced advisors — those with more than three years of service — and recruited 932, creating net attrition of 517, Diamond Consultants said in its first half Financial Advisor Transition Report, released on Thursday. However, the report said, all the net losses of experienced advisors were from Merrill, which had a net loss of 404, and UBS, which had a net loss of 182.
AlphaCore Acquires Blue Rock With Over $400 Million In AUM
La Jolla, California‑based AlphaCore Wealth Advisory announced on Wednesday that it acquired Blue Rock Financial Group, a Sussex County, Delaware‑based RIA with over $400 million in client assets under management. The transaction closed on Oct. 1 and Blue Rock’s team now operates as AlphaCore Wealth Advisory, AlphaCore said. Blue Rock was founded over a decade ago by Todd Roselle and focuses on business owners, AlphaCore said.
Wealthspire Expands Client Services With New Sports & Entertainment Practice
New York‑based Wealthspire on Tuesday announced the launch of a new vertical within its family office division that it said is dedicated to serving professional athletes, entertainers, creators and other individual investors whose careers and financial lives often require specialized advice and coordination. The new Wealthspire Sports & Entertainment (WSE) practice is being led by Frank Marzano, who was named the vertical’s Managing Director and Head of WSE.
LPL Picks Up $1.1 Billion Team From Wells Fargo
LPL Financial announced on Monday that it added Praxis Financial Partners, an advisor team based in Alpharetta, Georgia, from Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network. At Wells Fargo, the team had about $1.1 billion in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets under management (AUM) as of year-end 2025. Praxis joined LPL’s broker-dealer and RIA platform on Sept. 13 and will keep its name, an LPL spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report.
Larry Roth Joins WealthStream Strategic Advisory Board
WealthStream on Thursday announced the appointment of Larry Roth to its Strategic Advisory Board, saying the industry veteran will advise the firm’s leadership team on enterprise strategy, market development and strategic partnerships as WealthStream expands its work with wealth management organizations. Roth is Founder and Managing Partner of wealth management strategy consultancy Ascentix Partners, as well as Founder and CEO of Wealth Solutions Report.
Eaglebrook Introduces Direct Indexing For Digital Assets
Eaglebrook on Wednesday announced it launched a direct indexing platform for digital assets featuring the S&P Cryptocurrency Top 10 Equal Weight Index through Eaglebrook’s separately managed accounts (SMAs).
Why There’s Often A Valuation Gap Between Firm Buyers And Sellers
Sellers often value decades of client trust, long‑standing relationships and the revenue those relationships generate. Buyers focus instead on client retention, transition risk, operational consistency and whether the business can thrive without its founder. These different emphases often create a gap in valuation expectations between a buyer and seller.
Report: North American Family Offices Optimistic About AI, Private Equity
North American wealth management family offices are optimistic this year about the outlook for private equity and AI investments, according to findings from the 2026 North America Family Office Report released on Tuesday by RBC and Campden Wealth. The shift in sentiment to optimism followed strong overall 2025 performance, which reset performance expectations for this year, the report said.
DeVoe: RIA M&A Activity Is Down 19% So Far In Q3
RIA M&A transactions have declined 19% so far in the third quarter, putting Q3 on pace to potentially end a seven-quarter streak of record-setting activity, according to DeVoe & Company. After a record first quarter, activity slowed over the next two quarters, and DeVoe said 2026 transaction volume will likely finish below 2025. As of Tuesday, 72 RIA transactions had been announced during Q3, down from 89 in the same period last year.
Savvy Wealth Launches New RIA Custodial Platform
Savvy Wealth announced the launch of Savvy Custodial Platform, a new platform for RIA owners and firms. Savvy said independent RIAs can use the platform to onboard clients in as little as 90 seconds and move assets in a few clicks. The platform also includes digital onboarding, white‑labeled client experiences and integrations for CRM, billing, trading and reporting. Savvy Wealth provides the platform technology and National Financial Services provides clearing, execution and custody.
Women Advisors On The Path To Ownership
Many advisors consider a move to independence and ownership in the practice they have built. Such a move can present unique challenges for women advisors, as well as opportunities to play to their strengths. We asked women executives at Dynasty Financial Partners affiliates about the most important traits needed for a move to independence, the strengths they bring to an independent business and industry changes that could widen access to ownership for women advisors: Brittany L.
Invest In Others Honors Advisors For Philanthropy On Its 20th Anniversary
The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation presented awards to financial advisors for charitable leadership in their communities during its 20th annual Invest in Others Awards Gala at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport in Boston. Financial advisors, nonprofit leaders, financial services professionals and supporters attended the gala, which marked the foundation’s 20th anniversary and recognized this year’s award recipients.
Apella Adds Over $900 Million In Client Assets With Two Acquisitions
West Hartford, Connecticut-based Apella Wealth announced that it added about $928 million in assets under management (AUM) through the acquisitions of Longview Financial Advisors in San Rafael, California, and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina-based RIA Morris Financial Concepts. Longview Financial Advisors Apella announced Wednesday that its acquisition of Longview, which closed Tuesday, added about $384 million in AUM.
Apex Teams With FusionIQ To Enhance Digital Investment Capabilities
Apex Fintech Solutions and FusionIQ announced a collaboration to combine clearing, custody and digital wealth capabilities for financial institutions. As part of the cooperation, mutual clients will be able to pair Apex’s brokerage, custody and clearing capabilities with FusionIQ’s platform, including digital advice, self-directed investing, digital model marketplace and TAMP capabilities, within a single technology stack, the firms said.
Anthropic Launches Claude For Financial Advisors
Anthropic announced Claude for Financial Advisors, which connects Claude with advisor technology and adds workflow tools for research, meeting preparation and documentation. Anthropic said the offering is intended to reduce time spent on administrative work.
Envestnet’s Deal To Buy Vestmark Makes Sense For Both Firms, Wealthtech Expert Says
Envestnet agreed to acquire Vestmark, adding portfolio management technology, trading and outsourced investment management services to Envestnet’s platform. The companies said the deal was expected to close in the fourth quarter. Envestnet said it served more than a third of all advisors across its platforms and had $8 trillion in platform assets. Vestmark supported more than $2 trillion in assets and over 5 million accounts, according to the companies.
RFG Supports WFA, Volare Merger To Form $750 Million Firm
RFG Advisory on Wednesday announced that WFA and Volare Wealth Advisors had merged to form WFA Volare, a wealth management firm managing over $750 million in client assets. Both firms had operated within the RFG community for several years, RFG said. WFA Volare has a 16-person team serving several markets. RFG said the combined firm builds on WFA’s nearly 30-year history in Louisiana and Volare’s origins as a female-founded firm while retaining existing advisor relationships and local leadership.
Amplified Planning Introduces Specialized Online Advisor Training Program
Amplified Planning announced on Wednesday that it teamed up with Cary Carbonaro, Managing Advisor at Ashton Thomas Private Wealth,to start the Women & Wealth Masterclass, a continuing education online course developed to help financial planners build stronger relationships with female clients. The new training program was designed for men and women, and was created with Carbonaro, who also serves as Women and Wealth Ambassador at Ashton Thomas.
‘If I Died Tomorrow’: Ensuring The Client’s Paycheck Continues
For clients with large, contingent or back-loaded compensation, death can create a financial problem for their family and heirs. Deferred compensation, equity awards, earn-outs, partnership interests and other forms of income may be treated differently when a client dies, potentially leaving a family with a significant and unexpected cash-flow gap.
New Mountain Capital Exits Lincoln Investment
New Mountain Capital exited its investment in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based Lincoln Investment, returning full ownership of the RIA and broker-dealer to the Forst family that founded it in 1968 and advisor shareholders, the companies announced on Wednesday. New Mountain, an investment firm with about $60 billion in assets under management (AUM), invested in Lincoln Investment in 2020.
Sequoia Financial Buys $2.3 Billion Colorado RIA
Akron, Ohio-based Sequoia Financial Group announced Tuesday that it acquired BSW Wealth Partners, a Colorado-based RIA managing about $2.3 billion in client assets as of June 30. The deal closed on Monday, a Sequoia Financial spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report. BSW was founded in 1992 and serves a national client base from one office each in Boulder and Denver.
Coalition Calls On White House To Oppose Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger
September 1, 2026 Resist! In a letter written to President Trump earlier this week, the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition called on the White House to oppose the proposed Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger.
Cetera Adds $2.1 Billion Advisor Team From LPL
Cetera Financial Group announced Monday that Sierra Ridge Advisor Group, a Roseville, California-based investment practice with about 40 advisors overseeing approximately $2.1 billion in assets under administration (AUA) as of June 30, joined it from LPL Financial. Sierra Ridge chose Cetera to support the “next phase” of its national expansion strategy that includes plans to launch its own RIA on Cetera’s Blueprint platform, Cetera said.
Cerulli: What Advisors Want From Asset Managers
Competitive advantage for asset manager distribution increasingly reflects the quality of support for advisors over product access alone, Cerulli said Thursday while announcing findings from The Cerulli Report—U.S. Intermediary Distribution 2026: Supporting Advisor Success.
Vanguard To Buy Altruist
Vanguard and Los Angeles-based Altruist, an AI-based wealthtech and custodial firm, announced Wednesday that they entered into a definitive agreement under which Vanguard will acquire Altruist. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions that the firms said include required regulatory approvals.
Paths To Growth And Ownership For Advisors
Building a successful advisory practice requires more than just capital or compensating advisors. Advisors must decide how to structure their office, where to get support, which niches they will focus on, how much autonomy they want and whether they are ready for the burdens of ownership.
LPL Picks Up $1.6 Billion Team From Cambridge
LPL Financialannounced Monday that it added Conte Wealth Advisors(CWA), an advisor team based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, with about $1.6 billion in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets under management (AUM) that had been affiliated with Cambridge Investment Research. CWA, whose headquarters are located just outside Harrisburg, joined LPL’s broker-dealer and RIA platform on Aug. 18 and will keep its name, an LPL spokesperson told Wealth Solutions Report.
CAIS Expands Alts Options For Advisors
New York City-based alternative investments specialist CAISannounced Wednesday that almost 40 new and existing alternative asset managers introduced strategies on the CAIS alts platform during the last six months. The additional strategies being offered by CAIS include hedge funds, infrastructure, real estate and other alternative asset classes, it said.
FP Transitions Appoints COO As It Launches New Advisor Benchmarking Tool
FP Transitionson Wednesday announced it launched a new proprietary benchmarking tool for financial advisors and appointed industry veteran Tom Kimberly as Chief Operating Officer, a new role at the company. The company’s new Estimated Value Index was designed to give advisory firm owners a “clearer, more immediate view into the financial strength and relative value of their businesses,” it said.
MAI Enters Atlanta Market By Adding $490 Million RIA Waypoint
MAI Capital Management announced Monday that it acquired Waypoint Wealth Counsel, a Georgia-based, fee-only RIA that manages about $490 million in assets under management (AUM) for over 100 households and allows Cleveland-based MAI to expand into the Atlanta market. The acquisition comes as MAI continues to broaden its presence in “strategic U.S. markets,” it said.
IFP Adds $400 Million By Picking Up Two Advisor Teams From Commonwealth
Tampa, Florida-basedIndependent Financial Partners(IFP) announced Tuesday that it recruited two more former Commonwealth Financial Network firms, adding over $400 million in combined client assets to IFP.
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